DICK ADVOCAAT will not even contemplate a dramatic U-turn over his future until he has ensured Sunderland are staying in the Premier League.

The Black Cats’ owner Ellis Short, who has left the search for a new boss largely in the hands of sporting director Lee Congerton, is also not ready to make any decisions until Advocaat has achieved the short-term target of staying up.

Slavisa Jokanovic is thought to have been considered as a possible alternative by Congerton after being impressed by the way the former Chelsea player has guided Watford to promotion and on the brink of the Championship title.

But Jokanovic, whose profile is at an all-time high, will be in no rush to leave Vicarage Road and certainly not for Sunderland if the two clubs actually swap places with the Hornets in the Football League.

Advocaat has not completely ruled out staying on Wearside beyond this summer if he does keep Sunderland up, although he is known to have privately told those close to him that he was not planning on working outside of Holland for the long term again.

Such a stance has meant Congerton has had to consider the alternatives, with Jokanovic merely one of a number of those on the radar, along with Real Madrid No 2 Paul Clement, former Swansea boss Michael Laudrup and West Ham boss Sam Allardyce.

The uncertainty surrounding Allardyce’s future at West Ham has sparked talk of his possible move to the Stadium of Light, although the control he demands over transfers is unlikely to suit the sporting director model in operation led by Congerton.

Allardyce said: “There is only one thing that needs to be sorted out here and that is me sitting down with the owners when they are ready to talk about me at West Ham and nowhere else. Until that is resolved we won’t know which way we are both going forward. That is the only thing that is to be sorted, to sit down and sort it out.”

As well as the managerial situation on hold, Congerton has also had to tread carefully with his work on setting things up on the transfer front for the summer. He is, though, known to have an interest in Werder Bremen’s former Chelsea striker Franco di Santo.

But Sunderland can’t go beyond the tentative stage for a player valued at around the £8m mark until they know what division they will be playing in next season.

Di Santo, a former Wigan player, has scored 14 goals in 24 appearances this season in the Bundesliga and has just one year remaining on his contract so that has alerted other clubs.

The 26-year-old would provide Sunderland with an different attacking option after another frustrating campaign in front of goal, although Danny Graham could have forced his way higher in to Advocaat’s thinking for this Saturday’s visit of Southampton.

Graham was brought on for Will Buckley as Sunderland switched to three up front in the second half against Stoke City last weekend and Connor Wickham believes the team might just have stumbled on the right formula for the remainder of the campaign.

“I thought we were really good,” said Wickham, who scored and finished alongside Graham and Jermain Defoe in attack. “We carved out some really good chances and it was only a shame that we couldn’t take one of them. I like that system. I think it suits me.

“It makes us more attacking generally and it’s always nice to be attacking. From my own point of view, it seems to allow me the chance to get behind defences, and that’s where you can get the chance to do damage.”

Sunderland’s failure to win at Stoke has seen them drop in to the relegation zone having won just one of their last ten matches. Wickham is certain, though, that there are reasons to be more optimistic.

He said: “I know we’ve dropped into the bottom three for the moment. But we showed last season we can get out of the relegation zone and stay up and I’m sure we can do the same again this season.”