Darrell Clarke: Port Vale sack manager after winless seven-game run

Darrell Clarke oversaw 52 wins from 124 games in charge of Port Vale

Port Vale have sacked manager Darrell Clarke after a winless seven-game run which has seen them slip into danger of relegation from League One.

The 45-year-old guided Vale to promotion last season through the play-offs, beating Mansfield at Wembley.

His final match in charge was a 3-2 defeat in which the Valiants finished with nine men against 10-man Lincoln.

That loss left the Potteries side just six points clear of the relegation places with four games remaining.

Fourth-from-bottom Cambridge United, in the final relegation spot, have a game in hand on Vale.

Assistant manager Andy Crosby has been named as Clarke's interim replacement until the end of the season.

Crosby had a crucial spell in charge last season, covering Clarke when he took compassionate leave following the death of his teenage daughter Ellie.

At Clarke's insistence, Crosby was the one to lead the Valiants onto the Wembley pitch before the emotional victory over Mansfield at the national stadium in the League Two play-off final.

Port Vale's director of football David Flitcroft said the club had "immense gratitude" to Clarke for returning them to League One after a five-year absence, but their run of two wins from 18 league games had demanded a change.

"Following discussions in recent weeks with Darrell, the backroom staff and senior players, we have decided now is the best time to make a change and give ourselves the best chance of retaining the League One status we have all worked so tirelessly to achieve," Flitcroft told the club website.

"We have been on an emotional journey together, during which time Carol [Shanahan], her family and all associated with Port Vale have provided unwavering support to Darrell throughout an unimaginably difficult period in his life."

Port Vale co-owner Carol Shanahan said it was "difficult to part ways" with Clarke.

"Collectively, this has not been an easy decision to make," she said.

"We always wish to give our manager ample opportunity to deliver results, though at this stage we now agree it is in the club's best immediate and long-term interests to make a change."

Meanwhile, Vale have won an appeal against the red card shown to Tom Conlon in the game against Lincoln.

The midfielder was facing the prospect of a three-match ban after being sent off for violent conduct, but a Football Association panel upheld their claim of wrongful dismissal.