Duo lead race to take Reds role

Relegation favourites Salford are set to look overseas for their next coach, with veteran Australians John Lang and Shaun McRae emerging as serious contenders to succeed Karl Harrison.

Reds football director Steve Simms will be in charge for Friday's home game against Huddersfield but he intends his second spell as caretaker-coach to be as brief as possible.

McRae, who coached throughout the first nine seasons of Super League with St Helens, Gateshead and Hull, is keen to get back into coaching after quitting South Sydney last year.

He is due to arrive in England on Thursday to take up his old role of summariser for Sky Sports and, therefore, could start the job immediately.

But former Australia Test coach Lang, 56, is also available and is thought to have emerged as favourite. Like McRae, he was shortlisted for the Great Britain vacancy that was filled earlier this year by fellow countryman Tony Smith.

Lang was in charge of Australia for the 1997 Super League Test series against Great Britain and coached Cronulla Sharks from 1994-2001 before moving on to Penrith, where he stayed until the end of last season.

Whoever takes on the job will face an onerous task. Salford have won just one of their last seven matches, culminating in Saturday's 66-6 humiliation by Catalans Dragons in Perpignan, and are currently four points adrift at the foot of the table.

They will be without influential skipper Malcolm Alker for at least a month after he broke his hand in Perpignan and Friday's game against form team Huddersfield is followed by a trip to champions and current leaders St Helens.