The search for the next MK Dons manager is looking a bit like a game of Guess Who? with no clear front-runner yet emerging for the job.

Chairman Pete Winkelman has already admitted to the Citizen that he hasn't a clue who the next boss will be and despite a host of high-profile names being linked to the club in the last three days, nobody has yet surfaced as any kind of favourite.

Out of work Ian Holloway, Scunthorpe's Nigel Adkins and ex-Chelsea star Roberto Di Matteo at the moment seem most likely to be in the frame, but with Winkelman being bombarded with nearly 50 applicants for the job, he faces a hard task to narrow down the field.

The Dons chief has been sifting through applications since Paul Ince departed for Premier League Blackburn Rovers last Sunday.

He only wants to interview three or four people for the job, and is ideally after an up and coming manager who will keep the Dons playing their attractive and attacking style of football.

Fans have of course been speculating about who might be Ince's replacement too, but with no firm favourite yet to appear.

Names appearing include Billy Davies, although the Dons chairman is understood not to be interested in the former Derby manager, while Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink appears as somewhat of a wild card and Rochdale boss Keith Hill, who narrowly missed out on promotion to League One and who boasts an excellent record over the Dons in the last two seasons, also appears to be in the frame.

But the thing Winkelman seems to desire more than anything about the vacancy is a gut-feeling.

"I am going to try and imagine who it might be standing at the side of
the pitch next season," he said.

"I am only going to see those people that I genuinely believe could be the one and then it will be down to their interviews.

"And in the same way as happened with Paul Ince, I hope that after five minutes or so I am pretty certain that I have got the right man for the
job."

Winkelman has not put a time-frame on appointing a new manager, but time is not on his side with the team due to start pre-season training on July 7.

And they will surely need someone in place by then to assess the squad and start making improvements for the forthcoming League One season.
Meanwhile the club's longest-serving player, Dean Lewington, remains totally confident that Winkelman will get the right man for the job.

"I've got every confidence the chairman will go out there and pick another gem for us," he said.

"I think we are quite lucky in that we can attract a high calibre manager due to the club's profile, the stadium and the set-up we have here at the club.

"The chairman has said that he wants to keep the club's attractive style of play employed over the last year, so hopefully we can build on what we've achieved and the new manager will want to do it in the right way."