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Hartlepool United have appointed Keith Curle as their interim manager after the sacking of Paul Hartley.

Hartley, 45, left on Sunday after the Pools failed to win any of their nine League Two games this season.

Curle, 58, has 20 years of management experience and won promotion from League Two via the play-offs with Northampton in 2020.

His last job was at Oldham Athletic but he left Boundary Park last November after eight months.

Hartlepool are second from bottom of the table after four draws and five defeats.

Antony Sweeney will lead the club into Tuesday's Papa John's Trophy contest with Morecambe, with Curle expected to take the reins on Wednesday.

"We fully recognise the need to act decisively and quickly given our position," said chairman Raj Singh.

"Keith has a lot of experience at this level, including turnarounds and achieving promotion into League One with a side just two years ago.

"He has a profile that we believe is needed at this time to immediately step in, shore things up and start moving the team forward again."

Hartley only took over at Victoria Park in June after the Pools agreed compensation with Scottish Championship side Cove Rangers.

The former Celtic and Hearts midfielder's final game in charge was Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Sutton United.

His only win in all competitions was a 2-0 victory over Harrogate in the Papa Johns Trophy at the end of August.

Curle is the Pools third manager in 10 months after Hartley's predecessor Graeme Lee was sacked in May after only five months in charge.

Lee had taken over following Dave Challinor's departure to Stockport County last November.