Sunderland put existing backroom staff in charge against Norwich in Alex Neil's absence

Alex Neil is on the verge of being appointed as Stoke City boss, as Sunderland prepare to face Norwich City

Sunderland have confirmed that assistant head coach Martin Canning will be in charge of today's game against Norwich City, along with members of the existing first-team coaching set-up. Head coach Alex Neil has agreed terms with Championship rivals Stoke City and is set to fill the managerial vacancy at the bet365 Stadium, with only the official confirmation still to come.

In the meantime Canning, along with first team coaches Mike Dodds and Michael Proctor, and goalkeeping coach Alessandro Barcherini, will oversee the Black Cats as they take on the Canaries at the Stadium of Light this lunchtime. Dodds and Proctor were previously put in temporary charge in February following Lee Johnson's sacking, when they oversaw League One defeats against Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town, before Neil was appointed.

In the longer term, Canning is likely to leave Wearside in order to link up with Neil once more at Stoke. Sunderland confirmed yesterday that Neil had been given permission to speak to the Potters after Stoke had made a formal approach for him, although they said they were 'committed to retaining' Neil's services as head coach.

READ MORE: Sunderland vs Norwich City LIVE - Early team news and updates from the Stadium of Light

In reality, as ChronicleLive revealed yesterday, by that time Neil had already made the decision to leave Sunderland and take the reins at Stoke.

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