Connor in the hotseat but Jones is on the radar

Terry Connor will continue to lead Wolves in the short-term after Walter Smith decided against taking the job.

However, former Wolves boss Dave Jones has also been spoken to about re-joining until the end of the season and Steve Bruce remains in the wings.

Connor, 49, has been preparing the players since Mick McCarthy was sacked 10 days ago and is set to take charge of the team at Newcastle on Saturday.

Long-serving Connor was holding his first press conference at Compton this afternoon against a backdrop of mounting anxiety from supporters disappointed with the club's failure to recruit McCarthy's successor after setbacks.

The only contact former Birmingham, Wigan and Sunderland boss Bruce has had since being spoken to last Friday was a call to his lawyer yesterday to say he is still in the frame and is set for a second interview.

But Bruce is yet to hear from the club and has reservations about taking the job on a temporary basis for the same reasons as Smith.

The former Manchester United defender feels the 12 games after Saturday's trip to Newcastle is scant time to turn things around and knows it is difficult to motivate players with only the powers of a temporary boss.

Contact has also been made with Jones, who has always felt he has unfinished business at a club he managed for four years and led to the Premier League for the first time in 2003.

Chief executive Jez Moxey today refuted sugestions the job had been offered to multiple candidates on a short-term basis.

"We're not offering it around like confetti," he said.