Saturday’s visitors to Elland Road look set to have a new manager in place before kick-off. Oxford United sacked Des Buckingham at the weekend after a run of one win in 15 games, though the newly-promoted outfit are still 20th and outside the relegation zone.

It had looked as though they may head to Leeds United for one of the toughest examinations in the division without a permanent successor in place. However, the bookmakers and reports would suggest Gary Rowett is heading towards an appointment.

The 50-year-old has been out of work since taking over the reins at Birmingham City on an interim basis last season. Rowett was tasked with keeping the Blues in the Championship across eight matches, but failed to stop their relegation.

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Rowett’s last permanent job was with Millwall, where he spent nearly four years, his longest tenure in any club’s dugout. In the four campaigns he finished at The Den, Rowett took them to eighth, 11th, ninth and eighth again in the Championship.

There were also sixth and 10th-place finishes in the second tier while Rowett was in charge of Birmingham (permanently) and Derby County. He is perhaps best known at Elland Road for being in the opposition dugout for Marcelo Bielsa’s first competitive fixture at Leeds.

While Bielsa’s Whites wiped the floor with Rowett’s pre-season title favourites, the visiting boss had made the mistake of acting too confident before the season started. Rowett sat in on a pre-season Championship panel with Kalvin Phillips.

Phillips said Leeds were hopeful of an opening day win over Stoke City, but Rowett replied: “He hasn’t seen the bookmakers’ odds.” It was all in good humour, but it would haunt Rowett, who was eventually sacked by Stoke after only 26 games in charge.