Journalist Alan Nixon believes former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley and current St Mirren Stephen Robinson are "definite" candidates for the Luton Town vacancy, taking to Twitter (15/11; 7:20pm) to reveal this information.

The same reporter claimed earlier this week that the Hatters had reduced their managerial shortlist down to three, potentially making the board's decision easier in appointing a new manager following the departure of Nathan Jones.

Southampton only made an approach for the Welshman last Monday, making the quick decision to try and secure his services following the confirmation that morning that Ralph Hasenhuttl had been relieved of his duties amid the Saints' struggles.

This process to appoint Jones was a reasonably quick one, announcing his arrival last Thursday and that left the Hatters with no real chance to bring in a permanent replacement for their clash against Rotherham United, with Mick Harford stepping up to a caretaker role.

With Critchley and Robinson likely to be on the three-man shortlist, the third man hasn't been identified yet but he could be Rob Edwards, who was reported by Football Insider to be in pole position to win the top job at Kenilworth Road.

However, the race could still be wide open as Gary Sweet and other key figures at the club look to appoint the right candidate.

The Verdict:

Critchley is similar to Jones - because the former overachieved with Blackpool and the latter arguably overachieved with the Hatters - so the ex-Aston Villa coach could help to push Luton to new heights.

Also showing that he can work within a limited budget, he could be the perfect replacement for Jones as someone who already has the experience of managing at this level.

However, he may get a decent amount of money to spend in January, not just because he's a new manager who should get the chance to put his stamp on the squad but also because they won't be spending the £4m they received for Jones on Critchley because the latter is a free agent.

Although they will probably spend a bit of that on his wages - he should still have plenty of funds to spend when the winter comes along - although it should be a case of just adding depth because the Hatters probably aren't in need of too many starting players during the next window.

But if they did want to approach Robinson, then the money is there to do so, so they can afford to keep their options open at this stage with the club not in action for a while now.