Ryan Mason: Tottenham appoint former player as interim head coach after sacking Jose Mourinho

Spurs fired Jose Mourinho less than a week before their Carabao Cup final at Wembley

Mason has no senior coaching experience yet but has progressed through the Spurs ranks (Getty Images)

Tottenham have appointed their former midfielder Ryan Mason as interim head coach until the end of the season following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

The 29-year-old was a Spurs player until 2016, playing 70 times for the first team, before a club-record transfer to Hull City. However, his career was ended the following year after a collision left him with a fractured skull.

Since retiring he returned to Tottenham as an Academy coach and has progressed through their ranks once more, becoming head of player development last year.

He now replaces Mourinho until the end of the campaign, assisted by Ledley King - who was part of the staff under the Portuguese boss - and with Chris Powell, Nigel Gibbs and Michel Vorm as his interim coaches.

Mason’s first game in charge will come on Wednesday against Southampton in the Premier League, where a victory could lift Spurs to sixth, above Liverpool. His second game as interim boss will be the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, against Manchester City.

Club chairman Daniel Levy said: “We have great belief in this squad of talented players. We have a cup final and six Premier League games ahead of us and we shall now focus all our energies on achieving a strong finish to the season.”

Spurs have won only one of their last six matches in all competitions, with nine defeats from 19 since beating Wycombe in the FA Cup in late January.