WITTON Albion have sacked their manager, Scott Dundas, following a 4-2 loss at home to Bamber Bridge on Tuesday night.

The former Norton United boss, appointed by the club in May following their relegation from the Northern Premier League’s top flight, has overseen defeats in half of his side’s Division One North matches to date.

He departs, along with assistant Wayne Brotherton, with Albion 11th in the table, eight points adrift of a play-offs place.

They also exited the FA Cup at the weekend.

“We’ve been left with no choice,” said chairman Mark Harris shortly after the final whistle.

“The reasons are numerous; we’ve lost five of our first 10 matches, and gates at home games are dropping alarmingly.”

Albion’s home fixture with Brighouse last Tuesday, a contest they won, was watched by a crowd of 209 – the smallest for a league encounter at Wincham Park since April 2010.

A total of 220 were there to witness what turned out to be Dundas’ final match in charge.

Harris told the Guardian there have problems away from the pitch too.

He added: “There have also been examples of poor discipline involving players off the field.

“We need to move on quickly, and to draw a line under this sorry episode.”

Paul Ogden, manager at Witton for a brief spell five years ago, will pick the team for Saturday’s FA Trophy encounter with league rivals Ossett Albion.

He returned to the club in the summer to take charge of player recruitment.

Dundas admitted after Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at FC United of Manchester that his players’ margin for error had been reduced following an inconsistent start.

“I keep saying its early days, particularly as we’re trying new things and some players are adapting to different positions, though I’m not sure for how much longer I can keep repeating that,” he said.

“We need to get on a roll quickly, and to pick up a few wins.”

He steered Witton to victories in the FA Cup against league rivals Trafford and Farsley, earning the club close to £5,000 in prize money.

However a sequence of three defeats from the past four matches, during which Albion conceded 11 goals, prompted Harris to act.

In a statement issued early on Wednesday, the club added: "While it is acknowledged it takes time for a new team to settle, the board believes that performances - if not results - should have been much better with a top-four playing budget."