Former Saints striker James Beattie is determined to get back into management following his colourful spell at Accrington Stanley.

Beattie says he interviewed for the vacancies at Sky Bet League Two clubs Burton and Mansfield earlier this season and has not been put off by his failure to land either job.

The 36-year-old spent time at West Brom to assess training when Alan Irvine was manager there and he did the same at Swansea last week, where his former Saints team-mate and great friend Garry Monk is in charge.

“My time at Accrington has made me more determined to be a manager,” said the five-times capped Beattie, who scored over 140 goals in an 18-year playing career which took in Saints, Everton, Sheffield United and Stoke among others.

“I applied for the Burton and Mansfield jobs and, although it was not the result I wanted, I was told by experienced managers it was quite good to be interviewed for both of them.

“I see people like Garry, Alan and other managers I've spoken to and the amount of time they put into it is what I would do.

“I know the job at the next club I go into they won't be prepared for the time and investment I'm going to put into it.”

Beattie was appointed Accrington manager in May 2013 after the club had just finished 18th in League Two and he failed to win any of his first 12 games in charge the next season.

But Beattie endeared himself to the Accrington fans as tales emerged of how he found the club a new training base following their nomadic existence on council pitches, negotiated hotel deals on away days, paid for a youth-team coach to get to games and even picked up dog mess from the training ground.

He even paid Accrington's tax bill - reported to be running into thousands of pounds - out of his own pocket to save the club from a transfer embargo and results soon picked up with Stanley, on the league's smallest budget, eventually ending 15th and well clear of relegation trouble.

But Accrington suffered another dismal start to the 2014-15 season, losing six and drawing one of their first seven games, and Beattie left the club by mutual consent on September 12 after 16 months in the job.

“We had no resources and I was driving round in the evening trying to source a pitch to train on,” Beattie said.

“You're up against it but I've always loved a challenge and it was a great learning curve.

I believe it will stand me in good stead for what I'm going to do next.”

Beattie – who scored 68 Premier League goals for Saints – has called on some of his contacts in the game to further his coaching education and he admits he has been impressed by what he has observed behind the Barclays Premier League scenes.

“The one thing I was big on in the transition from player to manager was the attention to detail because if the players don't see you put in the effort and the time they will see straight through it almost instantly,” Beattie said.

“The planning at West Brom and Swansea is totally different to what I was doing because of the difference in resources, but the idea is to pick up any trinkets of information on preparation, be it on the playing side or the sports science side.

“I've known Garry a long time and he was one of the people I wanted to come and see with him being in the position he is.

“Swansea's a well-run club with a good infrastructure and you see things you wouldn't necessarily think about.

“Garry has a big input into how things are going to go at the club with the new training ground, and it's no surprise he gets recommendations from people like (Liverpool manager) Brendan Rodgers when you see how players respond to him in training.

“It's good to see that respect from players and I think he'll go from strength to strength.

“His dedication to his work is second to none and that's where I want to be because I want to manage at the highest level as well.”