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Everton's search for a new manager will now go into a second week after the club confirmed caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson is to remain in charge.

The Blues have given themselves more time to assess the candidates to replace Marco Silva, who was sacked last Thursday, and confirmed last night that Ferguson will be in the dugout at Old Trafford on Sunday for the game with Manchester United.

Vitor Pereira, the former FC Porto manager, has ruled himself out of the running to stay in China but high-level discussions have taken place over the possibility of Carlo Ancelotti being the man to fill the void left by the axed Silva.

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Ancelotti, sacked as manager of Napoli on Tuesday night, is understood to be keen on a return to the Premier League and the Blues' power-brokers are weighing up a move for the 60-year-old Italian.

Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is deliberating over the appointment of what will be the fourth permanent manager since he arrived at Goodison and knows the importance of finding the right man after sacking Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Silva.

But the ECHO understands that, despite reports earlier this week, director of football Marcel Brands is also at the heart of the club's search.

It had been suggested that Brands was not as central to finding a successor as expected for Silva but it is believed he remains integral to the process alongside Moshiri.

But for the time being Ferguson, who oversaw a win over Chelsea last weekend that took the Blues out of the bottom three, will remain in temporary charge of the team.

Big Dunc is hoping that Lucas Digne, who was forced off in the game with a groin issue, will be fit to face United while Fabian Delph and Yerry Mina – both with hamstring problems – trained on Wednesday.

At this stage, and with Everton still considering their options, Ferguson is expected to be in the dugout for next week's Carabao Cup quarter-final with Leicester City at Goodison.