Bradford Park Avenue have 12 games to save their season and prevent an unthinkable second consecutive relegation.

Gary Brook's sacking on Sunday - after just three-quarters of a season in charge - came as no surprise to disgruntled fans.

Brook's task had been to consolidate after the club's relegation from the Conference North last season but his side have been in free-fall.

Since beating Burscough in the UniBond Premier Division at the end of October, Avenue have lost ten of their 14 league games - and failed to win any of them.

The amazing slump has sent them spiralling from a top-six place to 17th in the table, just four points away from the drop zone.

Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to Witton was the last straw for the Avenue board, who had been considering their options for the past few weeks.

Chairman Dr John Dean has placed team affairs in the hands of assistant manager Brian Crowther and reserve team boss Steve Newton on a match-to-match basis.

But he is hoping to make an announcement on Brook's successor before Saturday's home game against Gateshead.

"We are looking at appointing someone who is close to the club," said Dean.

"We have got to be very sure about this because whoever comes in needs to fix the current problem quickly to make sure we don't go down.

"I still believe we have enough quality in this side. It is a question of picking the right players, which has not always been the case."

Dean added: "We didn't have a choice, we had to make a change. We have got four league points out of the last 42.

"I spoke to Gary on Sunday and he understood the situation. He knew the results had not been good enough. He liked it at the club but it has just not worked out. I am really sorry it has come to this but the club comes first.

"We have got to make sure we are not relegated and it's a big task. I reckon we need another six wins to be sure of staying up.

"Other teams around us have been playing well lately, which has made our task even greater.

"Brian and Steve are still here and looking after the playing side until we make a decision as to what we are going to do. I would urge fans to rally round and support the team at Horsfall on Saturday."

Brook's handicap has been an inability to keep a settled side. He has used nearly 50

players this season and the team has leaked

63 goals in 30 games, by far the most in the league. But bizarrely, only two clubs have scored more than Avenue's 50 goals.

"There hasn't been a problem scoring goals," said Dean. "But we have let teams get ahead in too many matches. We have conceded far too many goals."

Three clubs are relegated from the Premier Division at the end of this season and there are no play-offs with First Division clubs.