Crawley have sacked boss Richie Barker amid growing speculation linking him with the vacant manager's job at Portsmouth.

A club statement has confirmed Barker's contract - which still had 18 months to run - has been terminated with immediate effect.

Barker only signed a new two-year deal in May after guiding Crawley to tenth place in League One having taken over in August 2012 following the brief rein of Sean O'Driscoll.

The former Albion striker was in the dug-out for last night's goalless draw with Swindon Town at the Checkatrade.com Stadium which lifted Reds to 12th in the table.

Crawley have not revealed a reason for his departure and have said they will not be making any further comment on the matter at this stage.

But the Reds boss has been heavily linked with the Portsmouth job since Guy Whittingham was sacked on Monday. 

Director of football Steve Coppell and chief scout Martin Hinshelwood are likely to take charge of team affairs for Saturday's trip to Crewe.

A statement from Crawley said: "The club will make an announcement as soon as possible on who will look after team affairs in the interim period and we ask our supporters to have patience while the process of finding a new manager is undertaken."