Sunderland will be Advocaat’s final job in football

Dick Advocate on the sideline as Sunderland returned with a 2-0 win away to Everton. Picture by FRANK REID

But the 67-year-old remains coy over whether his time at Sunderland will stretch beyond the summer, even if he keeps the Black Cats in the Premier League.

Advocaat has managed a superb tally of 10 points from his six games at the helm, with Saturday’s victory at Everton sealing back-to-back top flight wins for the first time this season.

If Advocaat can register a fourth win at the helm against Leicester City next weekend, then the ex-Holland manager is likely to have fulfilled his remit of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League.

And inevitably, on the back of Sunderland’s win at Goodison Park - which moved them two points clear of danger - Advocaat was asked about his interest in extending his short-term deal at the Stadium of Light.

“This is my last job,” said Advocaat.

“I have had a great career and have won a lot of prizes and I am really enjoying what I am doing now.

“Hopefully we stay up.

“If not, I have still enjoyed my time at Sunderland.

“(Keeping Sunderland up) is huge for the club and hopefully they can make a good set-up for next season. That is important.”

But when pressed on how long his “last job” would go on, Advocaat said: “No, no, no I get a divorce!” in reference to reports from Holland after his appointment that his wife wanted to see him return home in the summer.

Advocaat is on the verge of sealing Sunderland’s survival though after their victory at Everton saw them leapfrog both Newcastle and Hull in the relegation dogfight.

Should Sunderland win against fellow strugglers Leicester on Saturday, and third bottom Hull fail to triumph at Spurs, then the Black Cats will have rubber-stamped their place in the top flight.

But Advocaat insists there is no chance of complacency setting in among his players this week that the job is already done.

“It won’t be so difficult stopping complacency,” he added.

“It was a big win on Saturday and we were really lucky with the three points.

“But you can see that even against a better team, if you work hard, you can get results.

“Leicester have a different style to Southampton or Everton, so we have to gel with that.”