Chief executive Michael Dunford says Crawley are keeping their “options open” over the vacant manager’s position.

Dean Saunders remains the favourite to take charge on a permanent basis having filled in since John Gregory stepped down in December for health reasons.

Crawley confirmed they had cancelled the remaining year on Gregory’s contract on Saturday while also dispensing with head coach Paul Groves and the entire backroom staff.

Saunders is set to hold talks with the League Two club for the first time today where he will seek assurances about the budget for next season.

But Dunford says any decision will not be made until after the weekend with his phone ringing “non-stop” from potential candidates.

Dunford said: “We’ll have a conversation with Dean first but we are keeping an open mind as far as other targets are concerned.

“I don’t know what Dean’s attitude is going to be until we speak to him so certainly from our perspective it is good to have other irons in the fire.

“My phone has been non-stop with enquiries from agents. There has been an awful lot of interest because even though we are a relatively small club it is still an attractive job.

“Hopefully the managerial situation will be crystallized within a week to ten days. It won’t happen by the end of this week, I am certain of that.”