Nigel Pearson has been appointed manager of Premier League strugglers Watford until the end of the season. 

The former Leicester City boss replaces Quique Sanchez Flores who was sacked on Sunday with the club bottom of the Premier League table.

Pearson becomes Watford's third manager of the season, after Javi Gracia paid the price for a poor start in September.

Interim boss Hayden Mullins will remain in charge for Saturday's visit of Crystal Palace to Vicarage Road, with 56-year old Pearson taking the hot-seat immediately afterward.

Pearson's most prominent role was at Leicester City, where he made way for title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri in 2015.

Since then, he endured a disappointing four-and-a-half months at Derby County which ended in fractious circumstances in October of 2016.

He'd been suspended by Derby owner Mel Morris following a blazing row, which is believed to have centred around Morris using drones to observe the squad's training sessions.

After his Derby disappointment and missing out on a vacancy at Middlesbrough, Pearson was appointed head coach at Belgian second-tier side OH Leuven - a sister club of Leicester.

In 24 games in charge of Leuven, Pearson helped them accrue only 22 points and he was duly fired with the club bottom of their division in February.

Despite his recent record, Watford Chairman & CEO Scott Duxbury claims of Pearson, "Nigel is an impressive coach and comes with all of the experience and success we believe can have a very positive impact on our season.

"It’s been a pleasure spending time listening to the passion with which he talks about the game. His enthusiasm, organisation and motivation will I’m certain prove essential in driving the team forwards and upwards over the coming weeks and months."

Duxbury also thanked Mullins for stepping into the breech, adding, "Tomorrow gives the perfect opportunity for Nigel to be officially introduced to our supporters as Hayden leads the team in the quest for a very important three points."