FORMER Colchester United head coach John McGreal is now odds-on favourite to take over at Swindon Town.

McGreal, who left the U's last July after nearly four years in charge, was previously priced at 12/1 to take over at the League Two side.

But according to betting firm https://www.betvictor.com/ he has now dramatically shot up to 1/4 to take over at the County Ground and so appears to be in the hot seat for the job.

McGreal spent a total of 11 years as a coach at Colchester, including four years as head coach.

He led them to the League Two play-offs and League Cup quarter-finals for only the second time in their history, last season.

McGreal also helped the U’s compete for a top-seven finish in his first three years in charge, along with helping a number of talented players progress to a higher level, after shining under his management.

He parted company with Colchester last summer, with his assistant Steve Ball succeeding him as head coach.

Robbie Fowler and Paul Tisdale were the early favourites a week ago to replace John Sheridan as Swindon boss.

But now former Ipswich Town and Tranmere Rovers defender McGreal appears to be the front-runner.

Tisdale, who had a spell at Colchester as first-team advisor at the end of this season, is now priced at 6/1 for the Swindon job.

Initial speculation which linked Fowler to the vacancy led to the ex-Liverpool striker being an early favourite for the job.

However, a week later and Fowler's odds have gone from 6/1 to 12/1, meaning he is now being priced as an outsider.

Outside of that, there are a whole host of names equally priced down at 20/1.

These include star names such as Michael Carrick and Kevin Nolan, although based on the current odds, these would appear unlikely appointments.