IFA president Jim Boyce says candidates deserve privacy

IFA president Jim Boyce confirmed on Wednesday that "considerable progress" has been made in recent days in finding a successor to Lawrie Sanchez.

The IFA executive is likely to be asked to ratify the appointment on Friday morning before the manager is unveiled.

There is speculation that the new man may only be granted a contract until the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The identity of the new boss remains a closely-guarded secret for the moment.

Boyce refused to discuss names and said that the people the IFA had spoken to "deserve privacy".

"As far as the IFA is concerned, when we announce the new management team, we certainly will not name the others we have spoken to," added Boyce.

"We'd like to get it done as soon as possible and we are making progress."

Ipswich's Jim Magilton and Nigel Worthington ruled themselves out of contention for the job last week while Colin Clarke appears to have accepted that he is not in the running for the position by taking a role with US club Puerto Rico Islanders.

Iain Dowie, Jimmy Nicholl and Danny Wilson are among the other names that have been linked with the job.

Northern Ireland are in with a chance of qualifying for a major championship for the first time in over 20 years.

They head Group F on 13 points following the superb victory against Sweden in March.

The new man's first game in charge will be the qualifier against Liechtenstein in August.