Coventry owner Doug King sacked Robins earlier this week following the 2-1 defeat to Derby County at the Ricoh Arena. The Sky Blues secured a point in their first game without Robins on Saturday by fighting back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Championship leaders Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

King will now look to appoint a replacement during the international break and a number of names are in the frame. Chelsea and England great Frank Lampard is the favourite with most bookmakers, while former Sky Blue Robbie Keane – most recently manager of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv – is also in the running.

Speaking on Sky Sports on Saturday, Merson laid out his theory on Coventry’s search for a new boss. He said: “If you’re getting rid of Mark Robins, you’ve got to bring in a name.

“You’ve got to bring in someone we’re going to be talking about. Some owners of clubs just want to be mentioned.

“If Coventry go and get Frank Lampard or Robbie Keane, we are talking about Coventry in three weeks’ time. We talk about Plymouth because of Wayne Rooney. Now it will be the same with Coventry.

“They will go big name. They will go with someone who we’re going to be talking about, surely, otherwise I just don’t see why they would have got rid of Mark Robins.”