Gareth Southgate was on the panel which interviewed candidates for the England U21 job

Gareth Southgate’s replacement as the manager of England U21s should be known before the end of this week, Sky Sports News HQ understands.

More than 100 candidates applied for the role, with as many as eight presenting their case to an interview panel including Southgate, FA chief executive Martin Glenn, FA technical director Dan Ashworth, the FA’s BAME project manager Wayne Allison and former England interim manager Howard Wilkinson.

Candidates, who have faced up to three hours of grilling from the panel at St George’s Park, have included the former England U21s manager Stuart Pearce, former Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill, Paul Ince and Gary White, most recently head coach of Shanghai Shenxin in the China League One.

The present England U20s manager Aidy Boothroyd remains one of the favourites to land the role.

Paul Ince was one of several applicants interviewed for the U21 job

The new manager's first job will be to prepare for friendly fixtures in Germany and Denmark ahead of this summer's European Under-21 Championships in Poland.

England are drawn in Group A with the hosts, Slovakia and holders Sweden.