Preston North End have parted company with manager Alex Neil after nearly four years in charge at Deepdale, the club have confirmed.

A 1-0 defeat against Luton Town at Deepdale yesterday was the final straw for Lilywhites owner Trevor Hemmings, who has decided to make a change with PNE slipping to within nine points of the relegation zone.

North End were in the chasing pack for the play-offs not too long ago, but 2021 hasn't been too kind for them after they ended the previous year with five wins in December.

PNE have won just three times this year, and along with that there has been three draws and nine losses - and with 20 losses in the Championship all-together it means only Wycombe Wanderers have been defeated more.

Neil had been at North End since the summer of 2017 after he replaced Simon Grayson at Deepdale, who had departed for Sunderland.

In a highly-promising debut season at the club, Neil guided North End to seventh position in the Championship and to within a whisker of the top six, but he didn't finish that close again, despite having PNE top of the league for a brief period in November 2019.

The club will now assess their plans going forward but for now Neil's previous assistant - Frankie McAvoy - will take caretaker charge.