Steven Pressley has resigned as manager of League One club Fleetwood Town less than two weeks before the season kicks off.
Pressley had only been in charge of Fleetwood for nine months after taking over from fellow Scot Graham Alexander in October.
A statement on the club website said: “The decision was made this morning following a meeting with the 42-year-old where it was agreed it would be best to take the club in a different direction.
“Fleetwood Town would like to thank Steven for his professionalism and effort during his nine months at Highbury, particularly in successfully maintaining the club's League One status last season.”
Fleetwood begin their season with a trip to League Two champions Northampton on August 6th and following the announcement have cancelled pre season games at Gateshead tomorrow and Hearts on Saturday.
The club released 14 players at the start of summer but Pressley had been seemingly rebuilding his squad with the backing of the board.
Pressley told Fleetwood Today: “There are a number of factors involved in it but it is not something that I want to discuss or go into at this moment in time.”
The club went onto add: “Our focus will now turn to the prompt recruitment of a new manager to take the club forward.”