Managerless Rotherham draw up a three-man shortlist

The Millers are on the lookout for a new manager to save their season after sacking Neil Redfearn on Monday in a desperate bid to stave off relegation from the Sky Bet Championship.

From over 50 applications, the club are favouring three men, thought to be Neil Warnock, Stuart Gray and Gary Bowyer, though Stewart has said they are not ruling out any latecomers.

An appointment is expected in the next 48 hours, with Nicky Eaden taking caretaker charge and likely to be at the helm for Saturday's visit of Birmingham.

"As I speak today we have three definitive candidates that have been shortlisted," Stewart said. "They all have experience in the Championship.

"That could change due to the ever evolving list of names we have put to us but we're not looking to pontificate for too long.

"We are holding discussions in the next 24-48 hours we will be hoping to make a very imminent decision.

"To date, we have received in excess of 50 applications and they still keep on coming so we reconvene regularly throughout each day to assess if our primary targets alter in any way.

"We've a clear preference for the type of manager we'd like to be in situ and we're well into that process now to be able to look to make a swift appointment."

Meanwhile, Eaden has revealed that Redfearn thought he was going to meet Stewart to discuss new signings on Monday, but instead ended up being sacked.

Eaden is in temporary charge less than a week after being appointed as Redfearn's assistant and insists no one saw the decision coming.

"It's been quite eventful, not how I saw it panning out, but football is what it is and you get on with the job," he said of his first week at the club.

"It was a bit of a shock and it's been a bit of a whirlwind after that.

"I was not expecting it at all. We took training as normal, 'Redders' was going down to see the chairman about potential loan signings for the window, but then we got the phone call at about 1.30-2pm on Monday afternoon.

"I am not sure what happened, the chairman made the decision and Neil left and I was left to get on with things."