Defending I-League champions Aizawl FC have sacked coach Paulo Meneses and his assistant Izan Andres after a seven match winless run in all competitions.

The Mizoram-based club, which is currently languishing in sixth place in the I-League standings, announced the decision on its social media accounts after the team returned to Aizawl after playing out a 0-0 draw against second-placed Neroca FC.

Aizawl have been trying to rebuild the squad after they lost most of their top stars, including coach Khalid Jamil, following the title winning run last year. They have struggled to show the consistency and penetration to challenge for the title.

Meneses, however, has termed his sacking as unfair, saying it was not possible to get the results the club management was expecting with the players he has at his disposal.“This is completely unfair. Most of the experienced players had left,” Meneses was quoted as saying by goal.com.

“We had only youth players in our team and most of them did not have prior experience of playing in the I-League. We played the best brand of football. We just failed to put the ball in the net. We lost too many players with injuries. Moreover, our key player H Lalmuankima went on to join FC Goa after he played well with us,” he added.