The Northern Ireland Football Association has today been in long conversation with team coach Lawrie Sanchez and is hopeful the Englishman is going to stay at his post.

Sanchez, who left the ground without speaking to the media following Wednesday's 3-2 win over Spain, had been in touch with Jim Boyce, president of the IFA, this afternoon.

"The President had a long and amicable, private conversation with Lawrie Sanchez (who) has assured Jim Boyce that early next week he will be in contact with the IFA and the IFA President is hopeful that this matter can be resolved to the benefit of the IFA and the Northern Ireland football public," it said.

"No further comments will be made on this subject until the IFA is in a position to do so."

Earlier, an IFA spokeswoman said the governing body believed Sanchez's no-show after Wednesday's surprise result had been for personal reasons.

"We understand that his partner's mother died and that the funeral's taking place today and he flew back to England yesterday for that," she said.

The spokeswoman said she was unable to confirm a report that the IFA had held crisis talks overnight following speculation Sanchez was set to quit.

Boyce reportedly said Sanchez was under a lot of pressure and that the Northern Ireland boss had not responded to his phone calls.

A spokeswoman for Sanchez declined to comment either on his personal circumstances or on his future as coach.

Newspaper reports this morning claimed Sanchez was "on the verge of resigning" or had taken "an irreversible decision" to go, while others said he was ultimately expected to remain despite the rumours.

Sanchez faced harsh media criticism last weekend after his team went down 3-0 at home against Iceland in their opening Euro 2008 qualifier.

The side responded four days later, however, with a hat-trick from Leeds United striker David Healy giving them an unexpected victory over Spain - almost exactly a year after Northern Ireland famously beat England at Windsor Park.