SUNDERLAND remain hopeful of having a new manager in place ahead of the weekend, with a new round of discussions having taken place yesterday.

The Black Cats head to AFC Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon looking to reignite a promotion push that has flatlined since Lee Johnson was dismissed in the wake of last month’s 6-0 thrashing at Bolton Wanderers.

In the wake of Johnson’s departure, Sunderland have suffered damaging defeats to both Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town under the caretaker control of an interim managerial team led by Mike Dodds, and there is an acceptance that is a more permanent arrangement is required ahead of this weekend’s trip to south London.

Talks with Roy Keane have been ongoing for more than a week now, and it is understood that further discussions with the Irishman and his representatives took place yesterday.

Senior members of Sunderland’s hierarchy are known to have met Keane for face-to-face talks in Manchester yesterday, but an agreement proved impossible to broker ahead of either the Doncaster or Cheltenham games.

As well as speaking to Keane, Sunderland’s recruitment team, led by under-fire sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, have also maintained a line of dialogue with their other shortlisted candidates, who are understood to include former Hull City manager Grant McCann and ex-Preston and Norwich City boss Alex Neil.

Sunderland officials also interviewed ex-Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi as part of their initial shortlisting process.

Keane, who has been the preferred candidate throughout the recruitment process, enjoyed considerable success during his first managerial spell at the Stadium of Light, leading Sunderland into the Premier League as Championship title winners in his first season in charge.

However, his last managerial position at Ipswich Town came to an end more than 11 years ago, and while he has spent time since coaching with Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, most of his footballing involvement in the last decade has come in the television studio in his role as a pundit.

McCann led Hull to promotion from League One last season and boasts extensive recent experience of the third tier, while Neil led Norwich into the Premier League via the Championship play-offs in 2015.

When asked about the Sunderland job earlier this week, Neil said: “They are going through their process. Your name gets bandied about with a lot of jobs from time to time. Things should become clearer over the next few days.”