Owen Coyle has resigned as Ross County manager with the club rooted to the bottom of the Premiership table.

Coyle and assistant manager Sandy Stewart have both left the club with immediate effect.

The 51-year old said the club's current predicament , coupled with living away from his family, had persuaded him to offer to step down.

The club are expected to announce on Friday who will succeed Coyle and attempt to lift the club out of relegation trouble.

Coyle said: "Myself and the chairman had a chat on Monday and after some reflective though I felt for the good of Ross County - and the challenging situation with my family being in England - it was in everyone's best interests for me to offer my resignation which the chairman duly accepted."

County chairman Roy MacGregor said: "We thank Owen and Sandy for their time at Ross County and wish them well for the future."

Coyle took over from Jim McIntyre in September with the team struggling and having won only one Premiership match.

The former Burnley, Bolton and Wigan boss had an immediate impact with the team winning 2-0 away to Kilmarnock in his first game in charge but then struggled to find a consistent run of positive results.