Dougie Freedman: Nottingham Forest manager sacked

Dougie Freedman scored 23 goals in 83 as a Nottingham Forest striker from 1998 to 2000

Nottingham Forest have sacked manager Dougie Freedman after 13 months in charge at the City Ground.

Forest have lost five of their last six games in the Championship and lie in 14th place after Saturday's 3-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday.

Former Forest striker Freedman replaced Stuart Pearce in February 2015 and won 19 of his 57 games as boss.

The club said first-team coach Paul Williams will take over as manager until the end of the season.

Freedman guided Forest to a 14th place finish last season and leaves with the side in exactly the same position.

He enjoyed a promising start to his managerial career, taking over at Crystal Palace in January 2011 and guiding the struggling club to Championship safety.

In 2012, the Scot opted to join Bolton in the same division. He steered them clear of a relegation battle and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the play-offs.

He left the club in 2014 by mutual consent after a run of one win in the first 10 league games of the season.

Although Forest enjoyed a 13-game unbeaten run from November to February, they have failed to threaten the play-off spots.

They have been restricted to free and loan signings since December 2014, having been placed under a transfer embargo for exceeding Financial Fair Play limits. They have the opportunity to have the embargo lifted in June.

Forest's next match is in the league away to third-placed Hull on Tuesday (kick-off 19:45 GMT).