Charlton Athletic have sacked manager Chris Powell - just hours after missing out on a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Fans' favourite Powell, who took charge at The Valley in January 2011, had yet to sign a new contract since the club was taken over by Belgian businessman Roland Duchatelet.

The Addicks dropped to the foot of the Championship at the weekend while they were on FA Cup duty, losing their quarter-final 2-0 at Sheffield United.

Powell made over 750 appearances during his playing career, which included three spells at Charlton and five England caps.

During the summer of 2011 Powell made 19 new signings for the Addicks, reshaping his squad and guiding them to the League 1 title.

The 2012/13 season saw Charlton finish strongly to claim ninth place but the lack of funding in the squad hindered their hopes to progress this year.

In the January transfer window, the Addicks sold Yann Kermorgant to Bournemouth and signed players from Standard Liege - a club also owned by Duchatelet - in the form of keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien, Anil Koc and Astrit Ajdarevic.

Charlton are due to host Huddersfield at The Valley on Wednesday night before visiting Millwall on Saturday. They have recorded just one win in their last eight Championship matches, against promotion-chasing QPR at The Valley last month.