Carlisle United's fellow League Two club Colchester have changed managers again - after just five weeks.

The struggling Essex outfit have removed interim head coach Wayne Brown amid their ongoing battle to stay in the EFL.

Hayden Mullins has stepped up to take charge for the remainder of the campaign.

Brown had been drafted in on February 24 and oversaw a 2-1 victory over Carlisle.

That, though, proved the Us' only win in a 22-game spell which also included the latter stages of Steve Ball's reign.

Brown had nine games in charge, losing five and drawing three. Since the Carlisle win in the fog on March 2, the Us have gone a further seven games without a win.

They sit fourth bottom, four points above the relegation places.

Chairman Robbie Cowling said it had been a "very tough decision" to change head coach again.

"Wayne Brown has given his all to lift the club away from danger but his hard work, positivity and enthusiasm have not been rewarded with the results he deserved and the club needed," Cowling said on the club website.

"I can’t allow those poor results to eat away at the team’s confidence to beat the drop, which despite our position remains high.

"I would like to thank Wayne personally for all of his hard work. He jumped in to help me out when I needed him to and I’m very disappointed that things have not worked out.

"I have asked Hayden Mullins to take over the reins until the end of the season and I am pleased to say that he has accepted the challenge."

Cowling also insisted he took "full responsibility" for Colchester's predicament and blamed the financial decisions brought on by Covid-19 for their lowly status.

"Had there not been a pandemic, I’m sure we would have been battling at the other end of the table," he said.

"There is a pandemic and I have handled it the way I have. If we stay up, then the decisions I have made will set us up very well for the future and would be viewed as very sensible. If we go down, then they will be deemed as foolish.

"We will be fighting for every one of the twenty four points that remain available to us."