The Bundesliga's bottom side Hanover 96 on Sunday sacked Thomas Schaaf as head coach in the wake of their 10th defeat in 11 games, with the club all but relegated.

Their 3-0 home defeat to Hamburg on Saturday ended Schaaf's reign after the 54-year-old took charge in December after Michael Frontzeck was sacked with the club second from bottom.

Hanover's plight took a turn for the worst under Schaaf who leaves, along with his assistant coaches, with the club 10 points from safety with six games left.

Daniel Stendel, coach of Hanover's Under-19 team, has been promoted to take charge of the senior team for the rest of the season.

"We did not make our decision lightly. Thomas has always carried out his work very meticulously and was goal-oriented," said Hanover's chief executive officer Martin Bader.

"He has exhausted, along with his coaching staff, every opportunity to achieve positive results with the team, but unfortunately they didn't manage it."

It was another quick exit for Schaaf, who spent 14 years coaching Werder Bremen up until 2013, but spent just a season at Eintracht Frankfurt until last May before his brief stint at Hanover.

After 14 years in Germany's top flight, Hanover are facing up to the prospect of life in the second division.

"We know that avoiding relegation with a 10-point deficit is possible only theoretically," said club president Martin Kind.