Everton put Under-23 coach Unsworth in temporary charge after sacking of Ronald Koeman

LONDON: Everton on Tuesday appointed their Under-23 coach David Unsworth as caretaker manager following the sacking of Ronald Koeman.

The 44-year-old will be in the dug out for Wednesday's intimidating trip to champions Chelsea for the League Cup last 16 clash.

Unsworth is a firm favourite with the fans having served the club with distinction as a player making 350 appearances during two spells at Goodison Park.

He guided the Under-23 side to the Premier League 2 title last season.

Koeman was sacked on Monday after a disastrous start to the season -- despite spending £140million ($185mn) on players -- reached its nadir with a 5-2 spanking at home to Arsenal on Sunday leaving them mired in the bottom three.

"Everton Football Club can confirm that David Unsworth will take temporary charge of the Everton first team, commencing with tomorrow night's League Cup tie at Stamford Bridge," said an Everton statement.

Unsworth -- capped once by England -- could be in charge for several matches leading up to the international break in a fortnight.

Everton have Premier League matches with Leicester and in-form Watford to come with a trip to French side Lyon in the Europa League -- the English side are bottom of their table -- in between.