Wigan Athletic manager Leam Richardson says he was 'surprised and absolutely devastated' to hear that Paul Cook had been sacked by Ipswich Town.

Richardson worked as Cook's trusted assistant for several years at Chesterfield, Portsmouth and Wigan and it was no secret that that Cook - who described the duo as 'solid as they come' - wanted to be reunited at Portman Road.

Richardson turned down that approach to go it alone with the Latics though, following a successful season as interim boss, and he currently has them sitting joint-top of the League One table.

“I'm surprised, absolutely devastated and gutted for him individually because nobody needs to tell Ipswich fans or anyone else in football the calibre of management on his CV,” said Richardson, speaking after his side's 2-1 FA Cup win at Colchester yesterday.

“For me he’s a Premier League/Championship manager so it’s surprising.

"People look to get out of the division (League One) and in that situation they probably look for Paul Cook and the likes of him.

“He’ll be fine – he’s very experienced, very robust, very thorough and very thoughtful. I’m sure he’ll already be looking for his next challenge, knowing him, and I wish him well.”

Ipswich have today announced John McGreal as 'interim manager', with Rene Gilmartin and Kieron Dyer assisting, ahead of this week's away games against Charlton (tomorrow) and Wigan (Saturday).