MIKE Dodds expects to speak to Sunderland's hierarchy at some stage on Wednesday to discover the state of play with the search for a new head coach - with the interim boss fully expecting to still be in charge for Saturday's trip to Bristol City as things stand.

Sunderland's bosses have spoken to a number of managerial candidates over the course of the last week, with the club said to have made an ambitious push for highly-rated Reims boss Will Still on Tuesday.

It's not clear at this stage whether Still could be tempted to Sunderland, but one manager who looks almost certain to now be ruled out of contention is Kim Hellberg who, despite talks with the Black Cats last week, is on the brink of becoming the new manager of Hammarby in his homeland.

Sunderland will continue to speak to candidates in the coming days and as things stand an appointment isn't expected before the weekend, with Dodds preparing to again be in the dugout at Ashton Gate.

After leading Sunderland to two hugely impressive wins over West Brom and Leeds, Dodds might well have put himself in contention for the job on a permanent basis, but he insisted on Tuesday night the only thing on his mind was a much-needed day off.

"From my perspective, and I want to be respectful to the question, it's been an absolute whirlwind seven or eight days," said Dodds when asked whether he's now a candidate for the job.

"I need a day off tomorrow because I've put so much mental thought into it. The staff must be sick of me in terms of the amount of analysis we do and detail we go into. I think the players need a break from me because I think at times I might be overly intense with them.

"I need a mental reset to make sure I'm ready to go for Thursday and Friday. I'll keep doing the planning and preparation as I've done for the last 15 months and I'll continue to do that for as long as the club want me to do it."

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Asked whether he still expects to be in charge at Bristol City, Dodds said: "At the moment I do. My focus has just been on the game. I'm sure I'll have a conversation at some point tomorrow with the people above me to find out what the situation is and where the land lies."

Further pressed on his position and chances of getting the job, Dodds said: "My answer is going to be the same, I've not had enough time to process what has happened.

"It's been a whirlwind from Tuesday onwards. I knew how hard these games would be and how much effort I'd have to put in in terms of making sure the team was prepared.

"I have a day off tomorrow and I'm absolutely buzzing. I'm going to spend the day Christmas shopping and I'm going to try and switch off. Then Thursday will be business as usual trying to prepare for Saturday.

"As I said from the outset, whether there was a head coach here or not, I like to try and plan three or four games in advance and that's still the case. The preparations for Bristol are in place and behind the scenes we'll start preparing for Coventry a week on Saturday."

No matter who gets the job, Dodds believes Sunderland's players have shown over the last few days why the vacancy is so attractive and appealing, with the Black Cats strengthening their position in the Championship's top six with their impressive 1-0 win over Leeds on Tuesday night.

Dodds said: "Regardless of the two results, whoever takes this job has an unbelievable dressing room.

"They have an honest group of players who are desperate to get better, that really want to propel this club to where we think we should be. Whether that happens or not, the outcome will be the outcome. I think the fans can see the players really want to play for the football club which hasn't always been the case.

"I'm absolutely buzzing for the fans. Two really, really tough games, to take six points from those games, I'd have snapped your hand off.

"I'm tired, I'm not going to lie, but I'm over the moon."