Another one of Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion rivals makes dramatic manager decision as pressure hots up

Peterborough United, newly relegated from the Championship and who have designs on returning there this season, have confirmed the departure of Grant McCann and his assistant Cliff Byrne.

The Northern Irishman was in the Posh hotseat for just 11 months having returned for a second stint at the club in February.

Relegation from the second tier followed and the club looked well set for a sustained push at the automatic promotion places in the early stages of the campaign but have fallen away rapidly to eighth place, five points shy of the play-off places.

Three consecutive league defeats proved to be enough for outspoken Peterborough chief Darragh MacAnthony to pull the trigger, as reported by our sister publication Peterborough Telegraph. Former Doncaster Rovers boss Darren Ferguson has taken up the position – for the fourth time – until the end of the season.

It leaves the club in immediate transition alongside fellow big-hitters Portsmouth, who sacked the Cowley brothers earlier this week after a similar fall from promising early-season form.

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Former Wigan Athletic boss Leam Richardson has been installed as an overwhelming early favourite for the Fratton Park role at a club he knows well having already held the position of assistant manager during Paul Cook’s time there.

McCann’s departure from the Weston Homes Stadium was the seventh of the season in League One.

Wednesday manager Darren Moore is the eighth longest-serving boss in the division at one year and 309 days – he is the 17th longest-serving boss in the EFL.