Ex-Premier League boss — who steered Wolves and Sunderland to Championship titles — now the heavy favourite to lead Blackpool's survival bid

Within an hour or two of Michael Appleton’s Blackpool departure, the odds for his successor were doing the rounds across various websites.

The 47-year-old was given the boot from Bloomfield Road just seven months after succeeding Neil Critchley at the helm.

Confirmation of his sacking was shared on Wednesday afternoon, with the Tangerines stuck in the bottom three following a 10-game winless run in the Championship.

Aside from a quite brilliant 4-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest in the Emirates FA Cup, the Seasiders haven’t been victorious since the end of October when Gary Madine and Jerry Yates netted in a 2-1 triumph away at Coventry City.

Blackpool are currently second from bottom in the second tier having clocked up 26 points from 27 games. They find themselves a point better off than bottom side Wigan Athletic, and level with Huddersfield Town, but are now three points adrift of safety with an inferior goal difference.

Here are the leading candidates with Sky Bet to spearhead Blackpool’s survival bid.

*The odds — in descending order — were correct at the time of publication.