Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Parish has admitted it has proved tougher than he expected for the Premier League club to find a successor to manager Tony Pulis.

The former Eagles boss quit his post with the south London side, reportedly in a row with Parish over transfer funds.

Parish said Monday he hoped to have a new manager installed by "the early part of this week", in a bid to bring new players to Selhurst Park before the current transfer window closes on September 1.

Parish said he'd only met former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay and ex-Tottenham Hotspur boss Tim Sherwood to discuss the vacancy caused by Pulis's eve of season exit.

It appeared Mackay was in line to take the job but the Scot's hopes were dashed when allegations made by Cardiff that he had been involved in sending racist and homophobic text messages were published by the Daily Mail newspaper.

The same row also led to the resignation of Palace's sporting director Iain Moody, previously Mackay's assistant at Cardiff.

Caretaker manager Keith Millen will remain in charge for Palace's League Cup tie away to third-tier Walsall on Tuesday as the Eagles try to return to winning ways following last weekend's 3-1 league defeat by West Ham.

"You read all sorts of things about how many people we've seen," Parish told the Croydon Advertiser.

"I have seen very few people, probably two, but spoken to other people about managers and doing background work and due diligence.

"It's not a revolving door of people coming in and having a chat. We have got a profile of a manager we think needs to carry the club forward based on what I've experienced over the last four years.

"Finding the right person isn't easy. A lot of managers are in jobs and they're not going to leave clubs early in the season, so it's a difficult situation."

Among those now linked with the job are former Norwich and Newcastle manager Chris Hughton, as well as Neil Lennon, previously in charge of Scottish giants Celtic.

Millen admitted he faced a tough task in restoring Palace's damaged self-confidence.

"We conceded twice from set-pieces (against West Ham) and that's something we haven't done in the past, and something you can't afford to do in the Premier League," he said.

"You put a brave face on it of course you do, I'm the one in charge at the moment.

"We've conceded two goals in three or four minutes, and that does knock the stuffing out of you, especially when you're a bit fragile."