Swindon Town chairman Lee Power will take temporary charge of the first team after the sacking of manager Mark Cooper on Saturday.

Swindon lost their fourth game in succession against Millwall at the weekend, leaving the club 20th in League One - out of the relegation zone on goal difference only.

The club have since released a statement confirming the decision to dismiss Cooper and revealing that Power will manage the first team until a replacement can be found.

"The football club would like to place on record their thanks to Mark for his outstanding work ethic and commitment to the job during his two-and-a-half-year tenure," Monday's statement read.

"Unfortunately, performances and results this term have not been as good as the club had hoped for with the current squad. 

"The chairman, Lee Power, thought it was time to make a change and informed Mark of his decision on Saturday after the defeat at Millwall. 

"Lee will take temporary charge of the team but will definitely not be the club's next permanent manager. 

"The club have already started drawing up a shortlist and plan to have a manager in place by the end of the month."

Power, a former Norwich City striker and manager of Cambridge United, insists he is perfectly qualified to hold a caretaker role.

"I know people will see the chairman taking over and think 'what is going on down there?', but I played for 12 years in every division there is in England and up in Scotland," he told BBC Wiltshire.

"If I wasn't the owner, or the chairman, no-one would say anything. It's an unusual situation as I am the only former player who owns a football club."

Cooper had been in charge since 2013 and led Swindon to the League One play-off final last year, a match they lost 4-0 to Preston North End.