Paul Lambert , Ally McCoist and Alex McLeish are amongst the names under consideration to take charge of Championship strugglers Sunderland after they axed Simon Grayson.

Grayson was sacked after Sunderland’s draw with Bristol City on Tuesday – which leaves them entrenched in the bottom three of the Championship and without a home win in 2017.

The former Scottish international has a hugely impressive CV at Championship level and was very much in the reckoning before Grayson was appointed in the summer, but when Sunderland decided to offer the job to Derek McInnes – who turned it down – he backed away.

Now Lambert remains keen, and he is under serious consideration.

Sunderland’s owner Ellis Short has instructed chief executive Martin Bain to look at their options and get this appointment right.

Former Rangers boss McCoist, a man Bain knows well – is another name under consideration along with Alex McLeish. McCoist is a former Sunderland player and would jump at the chance for a crack at the Championship.

Bain knows McCoist and McLeish well from their time working at Rangers, and he could try and persuade both men to work together at the Stadium of Light.

Black Cats legends Kevin Ball and Kevin Phillips – both of whom would happily take the job – are also in the picture, whilst former boss Peter Reid has been linked.

Ex-Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka is being linked, but the chances of him working under a restricted budget at the bottom end of the Championship, look distant.

We spoke to BetVictor’s Head of ante post Football Michael Triffitt to get the lowdown on the Sunderland market.

“Sunderland wasted little time removing Simon Grayson from office following a disappointing home draw with Bolton. After opening the season as a 20/1 chance to suffer back to back demotions they are now just 13/8 to be playing in League One next term,” he said.

“Former player and current Derby assistant Kevin Phillips was introduced as the 4/1 favourite immediately and although we saw a number of smaller bets they may turn out to be more sentimental and he has eased to 6/1 in the support of other candidates.

“The big mover is former Middlesbrough gaffer Aitor Karanka who has been supported at 16/1 into 2/1 favouritism. Former manager Peter Reid has also been mentioned in the media and has shortened to 4/1 from 12/1 but with 22 different names already attracting attention the market still has a wide open feel as we await the club to make further statements.”