Lee Carsley urges FA to hire a 'world class coach' who's won 'trophies' as he drops major hint on England future

The interim boss opened up on his future following England's 3-1 win against Finland in the Nations League. Carsley has been linked to the permanent role but appeared to rule himself out of the running, urging the FA to hire a "world class coach" with experience of winning trophies.

"People are always going to try to put their chips to one side. I'm totally in the middle," Carsley told ITV. "My bosses have made it totally clear what they need from me. This job deserves a world class coach that's won trophies and been and done it. I'm still on the path to doing that."

Carsley has been equivocal in his desire to take on the job permanently, saying after the defeat to Greece on Thursday that he will "hopefully" be going back to his role with the Under-21s. He later insisted he used the wrong words, but there were already reports that he didn't want the senior position.

Carsley will oversee next month's Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland and then, who knows. A host of names have been linked to the permanent position, with reports that former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has been in negotiations. But the FA's dream hire is said to be Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.