Lawrie Sanchez was sacked by Premier League club Fulham

Sanchez, sacked by Fulham in December, is expected to meet with the three-man panel set up by the FAI to search for a successor to Steve Staunton.

Ray Houghton, Don Givens and Don Howe are expected to meet Sanchez although he is not regarded as a frontrunner.

It is believed the FAI hopes to name a manager before the end of January as the Republic face Brazil on 6 February.

Givens was in Bulgaria on Tuesday with FAI chief executive John Delaney and president David Blood to fiinalise the fixtures for the Republic's forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

Many names have been linked with the Republic job since Staunton's dismissal, the latest being former French captain and Juventus manager Didier Deschamps.