Lee Carsley throws England future into doubt with strange press conference

Asked if he wants to be part of the FA’s process to appoint a full-time manager after his interim spell ends, Carsley said: “I speak to John McDermott every day, we spend a lot of time together. I definitely don’t think it will be something he should be involved with.

“My role is quite clear. I have two titles at the minute, caretaker manager and under-21 head coach. I am very lucky with the support I get at the FA from all the people who work above me. I’m very lucky with the bosses I have. I feel well supported and privileged to be in this position to be able to coach the senior team.”

Carsley again declined to directly answer whether or not he wants the job permanently, and when asked why he wouldn’t, he said: “I’m definitely reluctant (to say it publicly anyway) because in the past when I’ve done this caretaker or acting role, I’ve gone so far in the “I don’t want the job” I haven’t actually done the job.

“It was one of the things I talked about when I was asked to take over temporarily, it’s important that I keep an open mind because in this case I’m not reckless with my decisions.

“I’m thinking deeply about how the team should play, the team I should choose, which is a challenge. Squad selection is very difficult with the number of players you have to leave out and what we have available. Now I have another camp to do.

“I can definitely understand why you would be frustrated (by the lack of clarity). I can definitely understand because clarity is what everyone is looking for in this process.

“My mission was very clear regarding the three fields. I’m not someone who is constantly saying to John (McDermott, the FA’s technical director) ‘Can I have an update? Can I have an update?’

“Because the job is hard enough as it is right now, so yeah, I’m pretty comfortable in that sense. But yeah, I can understand why you’d get frustrated.”