Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan has revealed that 50 candidates have applied to become the new manager of the North-West outfit.

Despite receiving plenty of interest, Whelan has claimed that he will not begin the interview process until current manager Roberto Martinez officially leaves his role.

The Spaniard is a leading contender for the Everton vacancy following David Moyes's move to Manchester United to take over from the recently-retired Sir Alex Ferguson.

"We've got a list of candidates who have applied and we must have 50 people on it," Wigan Today quotes Whelan as saying. "We've got some very good and talented managers who have applied. There are some very high profile names on there."

Yesterday, former England boss Steve McClaren was the bookmakers' favourite to take the reins at the DW Stadium.