Former Tottenham defender Justin Edinburgh sacked as manager of League One side Gillingham

Justin Edinburgh has been sacked as manager of League One side Gillingham.

The former Tottenham star had been in charge of the Kent club since February 2015.

Edinburgh left Newport County to replace Peter Taylor and led the Gills away from relegation danger to a 12th place finish.

They improved on that last season and were promotion contenders for much of 2015/16 before ending the campaign in ninth.

But this term has been a disappoinment and chairman Paul Scally decided to act after Monday's 1-0 defeat at home to Oxford left the club sitting 17th in League One.

A statement from Scally read: "Having returned to work yesterday, this is obviously a difficult decision to begin 2017 with.

"I have been very keen to work with Justin and his coaching staff, I have become close friends with them over the past two years, and that is what makes this decision even harder.

"I have great respect for them and everything they have done for the club.

"I'd like to express my gratitude to Justin for his efforts; he has tried extremely hard to turn things around. However, the form over the past 12 months has not been as good as expected, and yesterday's defeat was the final straw.

"Nonetheless, Justin is a manager of great ability, and I have no doubt he will go far in football."