Bundesliga strugglers Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday appointed Niko Kovac as head coach in their battle to stay up after predecessor Armin Veh was sacked with the club in the bottom three.

The 44-year-old former Bayern Munich midfielder coached Croatia at the 2014 World Cup, but was released after two years in charge last September because his team failed to qualify for this summer's European championships in France.

Veh was sacked on Sunday after Frankfurt's draw with Ingolstadt the previous day saw them drop into the bottom three with nine league games left.

Kovac has signed a two-year contract, which is only valid for the Bundesliga, and with younger brother Robert, 41, as his assistant, his job is to keep Frankfurt up.

"It must be the goal of Niko Kovac to mobilise the team's strength to stay up," said Frankfurt's chairman Heribert Bruchhagen.

"We are confident that he will achieve this."

Kovac's first game in charge will be a tough away trip to sixth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday before hosting bottom side Hanover 96 a week later, then visiting Bundesliga leaders Bayern on April 2.

The Kovac siblings grew up in Berlin and are no strangers to success in Germany's top flight.

They won the league and cup double with Bayern in 2003 and the Intercontinental Cup in 2001 with Niko as a defensive midfielder and Robert in defence.