Carlisle United have today sacked manager Steven Pressley.

The Blues revealed this morning that they had dismissed the manager after 10 months in charge.

The decision came after United's 3-1 defeat at Morecambe which saw the Cumbrians go out of the Leasing.com Trophy last night.

The Carlisle hierarchy said they had not seen enough progress under the Scot and needed to make the change.

In a statement, Blues chairman Andrew Jenkins said: “Steven has given his all and has worked tirelessly since the day he joined us.

“We understand the challenges and have supported him throughout, but we haven’t seen the evidence of progress we expected or needed to see.

“This is not something we can allow to continue, so sadly it is time to change, move on and look forward.

“I want to say a personal thank you to Steven, he has been a pleasure to work with and this has not been an easy decision for us to make.

“He leaves with our very best wishes.”

United say Pressley's backroom staff, including assistant Gavin Skelton and coaches Nathan Rooney, Craig Wight and Dave Waldie, remain in charge of football matters "in the short-term".

The club have declined to comment further today.

It leaves Carlisle searching for a new manager for the second time this year, having appointed Pressley as John Sheridan's successor in January.

He leaves the Blues 19th in League Two and in the second round of the FA Cup.

The manager faced chants for his head from fans recently after a run of four straight league defeats but seemed to have eased pressure with a three-game unbeaten run.

Last night's setback in Lancashire appears, though, to have proved the final straw for the Cumbrians.

The manager had two weeks ago spoken of the "amazing" support he felt he had from Jenkins, the board and chief executive Nigel Clibbens.

Before that, director of football David Holdsworth had admitted Pressley was under pressure, as any manager would be after a run of bad results.

United's next game is a trip to Port Vale in League Two on Saturday.

Fans' trust CUOSC, who have two directors at the club, said they supported the decision to remove Pressley.

In a statement they said: "The board of CUOSC supports the decision taken today to change the manager.

"Whilst we gave Steven Pressley our backing in January when he was appointed and again in April when he was awarded a new contract, we all accept that results have not been up to scratch this season and now is the time to make changes at the top so we can turn our season around.

"Nobody is happy with being in the bottom six of the EFL. Results need to improve.

"The match at Port Vale on Saturday is another crucial game for the team and a quick appointment would be in everyone's interests.

"We would like to thank Steven for his best efforts over the past 10 months and wish him well for the future."