Non league surprise package Solihull Moors are on course to upset the odds at the top of the National League under former Nottingham Forest goalkeeping coach Tim Flowers.

The ex-England international was drafted in last season, along with former Birmingham City man Mark Yates, tasked with the job of saving Moors from the drop.

Fast-forward eighteen months and, now without sidekick Yates, Flowers has Solihull sitting level on points with table-toppers Leyton Orient and in the race to achieve what would be for them Football League status for the first time in their history.

Flowers and Yates were somewhat of a double-act at Damson Park when he they took over in November 2017. Flowers, a Premier League winner, described their 'impossible' triumph to save the side from relegation as his "biggest achievement in football", but it was frontman Yates who took the plaudits, earning him a move to League Two's Macclesfield Town.

But Flowers wanted to stay and build on their success.

"When we came in it was poor. It was a poor standard," said Flowers in an interview with iNews. "The club was trying hard but it was misguided, I thought.

"The quality wasn't good enough to make a fist of this level. This is a tough level - it's a professional level - and if you're not ready, or you're not quite up to scratch, you can get brutally found out.

"We stayed up on the penultimate game of the season last year and clearly we wanted to steer clear of that (this season). But results-wise we got off to a really great start with three straight victories.

"Following on from last season we had momentum. Confidence has grown that we can hack it at this level. We're in a good place, which is way beyond what anyone could have imagined, inside or outside the club."

Adi Yussuf of Solihull Moor celebrates scoring his team's opening goal during the FA Cup Second Round Replay match between Blackpool and Solihull Moors

As a goalkeeper, Flowers was never coached on the intricacies of midfield play, or how to give the 'keeper the eye from the penalty spot.

But neither were the likes of Dino Zoff or Wolves' Nuno Espirito Santo, one the Premier League's most counter-attacking deadly bosses.

His playing style as a manager has been criticised. It is direct, or as aggrieved opposition fans would call it: 'hoof-ball', and exactly what you might expect from a manager who played in goal during the 1980s and 1990s.

But it works, and Moors have used it to upset some of non-league's biggest sides, so the critics do not bother Flowers one bit.

"Ask the Solihull fans if they like it," said Flowers. "I don't care. We create chances galore most of the times we play. We play attacking football and we've got very attacking full-backs who bomb forward and look to deliver with quality.

"People pay money to watch goals and goalscoring opportunities and we provide that. If other people don't like it then I'm not bothered.

"You look at clubs that do well, and how they do well. What sort of style of football do they implement, and what sort of personnel do they bring in? I looked at it, and for me, this division and the one above, is still very much about power.

"Lots of teams do try to play, and that's their prerogative, but I look at Lincoln, who are sitting pretty at the top of League Two, and they are big, powerful, well-organised, and excellent at restarts. They know exactly what they're doing in and out of possession."

After a short spell with Stafford Rangers and two caretaker stints with Northampton Town, Flowers became Forest's goalkeeping coach in 2014 under his former teammate Stuart Pearce.

The Reds got themselves off to a flying start that season, with Michail Antonio and Britt Assombalonga bang in form Forest were top of the table for five weeks at the start of the season.

Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce celebrates with Tim Flowers as Ben Osborn wins it on derby day

However, a torrid middle part of the season saw Pearce sacked and Flowers went with him.

"Being a former goalkeeper, I got my badges and went into that side of the game, specifically coaching goalkeepers, but I've covered a lot of different briefs," he said.

"I hadn't really thought about whether management was my aim but I happened to be here when that opportunity arose.

"I took it and I've enjoyed it. It's a lot harder than anything else I've done. You've got to think of everything. There are all these things bouncing around your head and you can wake up at four in the morning and think, boom, 'I need a centre-half.'

"Nevertheless it's probably the nearest thing to playing. That matchday feeling that you get because at the end of the day it's your neck that's on the block."