Josef Hickersberger has resigned as coach of Bahrain national team after just four months in the job, the vice president of Bahrain Football Association Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa announced on Wednesday.

GettyImagesJosef Hickersberger has stepped down as Bahrain coach

The 63-year-old Austrian only took charge of Bahrain in June and Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa admitted his decision came as a surprise.

"Coach Hickersberger decided to terminate his contract with Bahrain FA,'' he said. "It was a surprising decision for us and the coach has put us in a difficult situation as we have forthcoming campaigns in the Gulf Cup and Asian Cup.

"We will have meetings to take the best decision for the national team. We will definitely announce the plan for the national team's preparations and the national team will be led by assistant coach Marjan Eid.''

Bahrain were drawn in Group B at the Gulf Cup along with Oman, Iraq and Bahrain, while they will be playing in Group C at the AFC Asian Cup along with Korea Republic, India and Australia.