Garcia leaves Brighton after play-off exit

LONDON - Oscar Garcia resigned as manager of Championship club Brighton on Monday just 24 hours after his side's crushing defeat in the play-offs semi-finals.

The Seagulls saw their hopes of promotion to the Premier League shattered on Sunday as Derby swept to a 4-1 victory at the iPro Stadium which clinched a 6-2 aggregate success.

Garcia offered to quit immediately after the match and despite being given time to mull over his decision, the Spaniard has now had his resignation accepted by the Brighton board.

"Brighton and Hove Albion have accepted the resignation of head coach Oscar Garcia," the club said in a statement on their official website.

"Oscar met with the club earlier today, to formally offer his resignation to the board, which has been accepted. He has also informed the club's players of his decision."

Brighton only sealed a play-off place on the final day of the season thanks to a last-minute winner at Nottingham Forest.

And Garcia hinted his decision to step down from the role had been in his mind for some time, with reports claiming he had a difficult relationship with his employers following the sales of star players Ashley Barnes and Liam Bridcutt to Burnley and Sunderland respectively.

The 41-year-old, who led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Israeli title in the 2012-13 season after a spell coaching Barcelona's Under-19s, said: "The club has been aware of my thoughts for several weeks and during this time I have had discussions with both the chairman, Tony Bloom, and chief executive, Paul Barber.

"I have enjoyed my time with the club but, although I do not have any immediate plans, I have decided to move on.

"I'm very proud of this season with Brighton. The Championship is a very difficult and competitive league but our record this season has been very good. I wish Brighton every success for the future."

Brighton were also beaten in the second tier play-off semi-finals last season, a defeat which prompted the resignation of then manager Gus Poyet, who is now in charge at Sunderland.