KEVIN Keen and Andy Hessenthaler have emerged among the early contenders to succeed John Gorman as Wycombe Wanderers boss.

The club have received 30 to 40 serious applications which they have described as well worth consideration and plan to make their appointment by July 3.

The board will discuss those 30 or 40 names at their next board meeting on June 16 when all the board members have returned from holiday.

They will then whittle those names down to ten who they plan to interview.

Wanderers are encouraged by the calibre of applicants they have had and insiders say Keen's application has caught their eye.

The West Ham reserve team coach is a former Wanderers player and his father Mike managed the Blues in the early 80s.

Keen, 39, was born in Amersham and still holds the record as being the youngest player ever to turn out for the Blues when he made his debut against Hendon in his dad's team in 1982.

He then went on to play 219 times for West Ham before moving on to Wolves and Stoke, where he finished his career.

Hessenthaler is also seeking a return to football having previously performed miracles on a shoestring managing at Gillingham.

The former Gillingham player-manager, who is still playing for Barnet after ten years with the Kent club, was short-listed for the Northampton job but lost out to Gorman.

The 40-year-old has just agreed a one-year playing agreement with Barnet but has an arrangement with chairman Tony Kleanthous that if a club comes in for him in a managerial or coaching role that Barnet would not stand in his way.

Wanderers are thought to be looking for an up-and-coming manager rather than an established name who has failed elsewhere.

The club came close to hiring Adrian Boothroyd last time they were hunting a manager but decided against it because he did not have any experience as a manager although he was coaching at Leeds.

He since got the Watford job and took them into the Premiership this year and that could weigh heavy in Wycombe's thinking as they look at candidates like Keen, who are looking for their big break.

Others linked include former Torquay boss Leroy Rosenior, Colin Lee, who was interviewed last time around, and Graham Rix, who is also seeking a route back into the game having been sacked by trigger happy Hearts chairman Roman Romanov after 19 matches.

But any fans hoping to see Martin Allen at Wycombe could be disappointed.

Brentford will demand compensation from any club which takes Allen, who resigned with 12 months left on his contract, and say any club wanting to speak to him must go through them first.

At the time of going to press they had received no approach from Wycombe.