Plymouth Argyle have sacked Ian Foster as their fears of relegation increased after a damaging home defeat at Bristol City.

Blackburn Rovers gave their survival chances a major boost by beating Sunderland 5-1 at The Stadium of Light. A brilliant display from John Eustace's side has them 17th, five points clear of the relegation zone.

Argyle have been slowly sliding down the table, though, under Foster. They have lost eight of their 11 matches with him at the helm and supporters grew angry with his man-management style.

Easter Monday's 1-0 defeat to Bristol City was their fifth home match without scoring, with the form at Home Park previously being the bedrock of their overperformance.

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With the team 21st and only one point clear of danger in the battle to avoid the drop to League One.

Director of football Neil Dewsnip and first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell will take charge of the team for the remainder of the season. First-team coach Simon Ireland and goalkeeping coach Daryl Flahavan, who joined the club under Foster, will stay in their roles.

"Ian was hired through a thorough and extensive recruitment process and his coaching credentials really stood out when making the appointment," chairman Simon Hallett said in a statement on the club website.

"But we have to balance long-term stability against short-term decisions, and we have given Ian as long as possible to see if results could improve.

"Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case, and we feel now is the right time to make a change to give us the best chance of securing survival."

"Nobody's happy when you don't win a game of football - this is our lives and our livelihoods," Foster said after what proved to be his last match in charge.

"We're fighting and that's the key thing. We're not a group that takes things lightly, we're not a group that gives in, we're not a group that looks for excuses.

"We take responsibility and we'll try our best to go again."