Oxford United could be in danger of missing out on the best available managers if they don't move quickly to find a replacement for Graham Rix.

Danny Wilson, the former Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City boss who was being tipped as a leading candidate for the Oxford job, watched Wycombe Wanderers' 2-1 win at Leyton Orient on Saturday.

Wycombe too are looking for a manager, following this month's departure of Tony Adams, and many candidates are understood to have applied for both jobs.

United have said that no decision on the new manager will be made until early next month, after chairman Firoz Kassam has returned from a trip to Australia.

Caretaker-manager Darren Patterson's odds to become the permanent boss at the Kassam Stadium have lengthened to 6-4 with Oxford bookmakers River Racing following Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Rochdale, and after they took bets on Kevin Wilson.

Wilson, the former Banbury United, Chelsea and Ipswich striker, who managed Northampton Town and is currently at Kettering, has been cut from 10-1 to 4-1.

Other names in the running include Chris Turner and Ray Graydon, while a national Sunday newspaper claimed that Torquay boss Leroy Rosenior was in the frame.

One surprise candidate for the Causeway Stadium post is the former Watford star Luther Blissett, who has been coaching the forwards at Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, United secretary Mick Brown said at the weekend that the club had received a number of applications for the job, even though it had not been advertised.

Many will be treated seriously, but some have come from local junior league club managers who have sent in their CV.

"I think it's a bit like the 92 Club, some people just like to build up a collection of rejection letters so they can tell their mates 'I was turned down for such-and-such a job'," Brown said.