Steve Claridge enters Salisbury City manager talks

Claridge pictured in 2003 playing for Millwall against ex-Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood, then at Portsmouth

Ex-Portsmouth striker Steve Claridge is in talks with Salisbury City regarding their vacant managerial position.

The 48-year-old BBC pundit played over 1,000 professional matches during his 24-year career, and went on to manage Pompey, Millwall and Weymouth.

He returned to semi-professional football in 2007 and most recently played for Gosport, helping them to promotion to Southern League in 2012.

Salisbury are looking for a new manager and league to play in for next term.

Under former boss Mikey Harris, the Whites finished 12th in the Conference Premier last season but the club have been hit by severe financial difficulties this summer.

They have been thrown out of the Football Conference for failing to meet deadlines to pay football creditors and Harris quit his role last month to join Portsmouth as youth-team coach.

A consortium took over the ailing club on Friday, overthrowing former chairman Outail Touzar, and the new owners plan to appeal to be reinstated into Conference South.

Claridge began his professional career at Bournemouth in 1984 and went on to have spells at Aldershot, Cambridge United, Birmingham City, Leicester City, Wolves and Millwall.

While at Leicester, Claridge scored the decisive goal in the 1996 First Division play-off final - which secured promotion to the Premier League - as well as their winner as they beat Middlesbrough in the 1997 League Cup final.

He later scored scored 34 goals in three years at Portsmouth, and he went on to spend four months as manager between October 2000 and February 2001.