Who is Nathan Jones? The ex-Stoke and Luton boss favourite to succeed Simon Grayson

And today, Nathan Jones has flown to the top of the betting with some outlets offering odds as short as 1/1 - but what do we know about him?

Here, we take a look...

WAS HE A PLAYER BEFORE HIS MANAGERIAL CAREER BEGAN?

Yes. The Wales-born midfielder and left-back began his career at Cardiff City as a youth teamer in 1990. After stints with several non-league sides, Jones joined Luton Town in 1995.

A spell in Spain with Badajoz and Numancia soon followed before stints with Southend United, Scarborough, Brighton and Yeovil Town.

WHAT TYPE OF COACH IS HE?

The 46-year-old has been heavily influenced by his time in Spain in the 90s. A fluent Spanish speaker also, Jones was named as assistant to Oscar Garcia Brighton in 2013

In his tenure at Luton he brought a quick-passing, possession-based style to the Bedfordshire club. The Hatters finished as runners-up in League Two two seasons ago, having clocked wins of 8-2, 7-1 and 7-0, scored 94 goals in the process.

Jones continued to take Luton on an upward trajectory during the 2018–19 season, leading the club to second place in League One by January 2019 with the highest number of goals scored.

WHO ELSE HAS HE MANAGED?

Jones' time at Luton Town came to an end when he was approached by Championship club Stoke City, departing Kennilworth Road with the highest Football League points per game ratio of any manager in their history.

WHAT WENT WRONG AT STOKE?

Jones won three matches of the remaining 21 in the 2018–19 season as Stoke ended in 16th in the Championship.

During the summer transfer window, Jones was backed by Stoke's board and brought in ten new players

However, Stoke made a terrible start to this season gaining only a point from the first six matches, meaning Jones was sacked after winning just two of the first 14 matches.

WHAT TYPE OF FOOTBALL DOES HE LIKE TO PLAY?

At Luton, during his most successful stint as a manager so far, Jones operated a diamond formation midfielder rotating and swapping flanks. Jones typically played two upfront with attacking full-backs providing width.

The former Brighton caretaker boss only tends to wingers as impact substitutions when searching for a goal, rather than as his Plan A.