SUNDERLAND will make Burnley boss Sean Dyche their first port of call if Dick Advocaat walks away from his current position as head coach, the Northern Echo are reporting.

Advocaat’s future continues to be the subject of considerable debate, with the Dutchman having confirmed he would step aside if he felt another manager could do a better job of halting a miserable run that has seen the Black Cats pick up just two points from their opening seven games of the season.

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The bookmakers make Advocaat an evens money favourite to be the first Premier League boss to leave their role, and while there is no suggestion the 68-year-old is close to walking away from Wearside for a second time, such a scenario cannot be discounted.

As a result, the Sunderland hierarchy are determined not to be left in the lurch if their head coach was to depart, as they would not want to be left in a situation where they had to have a temporary boss in charge for a number of matches.

Patrick Vieira has been mentioned as a possible managerial option in a number of quarters this week, but The Northern Echo understands Dyche would be the club’s preferred choice in the eventuality of Advocaat leaving.

The Burnley manager would have been offered the head coach role at the Stadium of Light at the start of June had Advocaat not performed a surprise U-turn and reversed his previous decision to return to Holland.

Back then, it was anticipated that Dyche would have agreed to take over at Sunderland in the wake of Burnley’s relegation from the top-flight last season.

The Clarets have made a reasonable start to life in the Championship and are currently in sixth position after their opening nine games, but Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton and owner Ellis Short would be confident of persuading Dyche to jump ship if they were forced to act in the next couple of months.

At this stage, however, the strong hope is that Advocaat will remain in his position as, after his heroics at the end of last season, there is still a strong degree of confidence in the veteran coach’s ability to turn things around.