Gus Poyet holds talks with Sunderland over managers job

Gus Poyet’s future is unclear after he was suspended by Brighton (Getty)

The former Brighton manager Gus Poyet has met with representatives of Sunderland and is the leading candidate to succeed Paolo Di Canio as the club's head coach.

Poyet, 45, was identified as the man Sunderland wanted to put together the shattered confidence of their squad and to try to rescue their season from a start that had earned just one point in five games. The club have said that they are assessing all their options from a pool of out-of-work managers but Poyet is their first choice. The club have Kevin Ball in place for Sunday's visit of Liverpool.