FORMER Chelsea and Derby County coach Jody Morris is close to becoming the new boss of Swindon Town, according to reports.

Town have been without a head coach since January 11 when Scott Lindsey left the club to join League Two rivals Crawley Town on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Since then, Gav Gunning and Steven Mildenhall have taken interim charge of the Robins and led the team to a thumping 5-0 win at home to Grimsby Town.

A number of names were said to have been in the running to take the job on a permanent basis – managers such as Marc Bircham, Kieron Dyer, Chris Hughton, and David Artell.

Ex-Crewe manager Artell was reportedly set to be offered the job at the start of the week, but according to The Real EFL, the Gibraltan international is no longer under consideration and will not be the next Town boss.

Morris was said to be the “stand-out candidate” from Swindon’s point of view, although Town were initially hesitant to make an offer due to financial constraints and have had to “break the bank” to land their man.

Adver Sport understands the deal is almost agreed, and the stall in announcing the club’s new head coach is now down to negotiations for Morris’ assistant.

The number two is allegedly a Premier League coach at a struggling club, with Swindon hoping to wrap up a deal for both before Saturday’s League Two home clash with Gillingham.

Town’s pursuit of Morris is understandable given the 44-year-old’s track record of working with and developing young players, plus his pedigree working with Frank Lampard at Derby and Chelsea.

He is currently out of work after leaving Chelsea and was hotly-tipped to take the West Bromwich Albion hot seat prior to Carlos Corberan’s appointment before Christmas.

But with Swindon hoping to make the most of Charlie Austin’s return and the club’s promising league position, it is hoped Morris’ impending arrival would help the Robins make the step back up to League One after two seasons away.

The Hammersmith-born coach has enjoyed past success working with emerging ability. Morris was at Chelsea Under-18s from 2013-18, first as the assistant before taking over as manager in 2016.

In the 2017-18 campaign, Morris’ Chelsea U18s won an unprecedented quadruple – landing the U18 Premier League southern title, the U18 Premier League Cup, and the FA Youth Cup before beating Manchester United to land the Premier League national final.

Morris took charge of 65 games at the West-Londoners’ academy and secured a points-per-game record of 2.55 during that time, coaching a host of top-tier talent including Marc Guehi, Trevoh Chalobah, Tariq Lamptey, Reece James, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, and Town defender Marcel Lavinier.