• England interim manager’s future to be decided after next two games • Southgate: ‘I don’t think it is as easy as saying: “Yes I would like the job”’

Gareth Southgate is undecided whether he would accept the permanent England manager’s job should the FA make him an offer after the forthcoming games with Scotland and Spain.

The interim manager is enjoying the role more than he anticipated, after filling the breach following Sam Allardyce’s sudden departure in September, but would want to know the length of contract, among other things, before committing himself.

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The 46-year-old is making no assumptions after stepping up from managing the England Under-21s for last month’s World Cup qualifiers with Malta, which England won 2-0, and the goalless draw in Slovenia and expects the position to go to interview even if he prospers in the two games at Wembley over the coming 11 days.

“The agreement was to take these four games, to keep some continuity, and then everybody has a chance to reflect and review how’s it gone,” Southgate said, speaking exclusively with the Football Journalism degree class at the University of Derby. “The FA [then] have a decision to make as to what they want to do. I think it’s a decision that needs a lot of thought, and also I think when you’re in the position I am in, you need to be clear of what is being asked.

“There is a big difference, for example, between being asked to take the team over the summer or to take the team for three years or take the team for a year and a half. I don’t think it is as easy as saying: ‘Yes I would like the job,’ and I would also like to see how it is affecting my family – and my health probably!”

After gaining four points from his first two games, Southgate is very relaxed about the situation. Having won the Toulon Tournament with the under-21s in June, he is very well thought of at St George’s Park, where he has worked closely with Dan Ashworth, the technical director, on a unified development plan for all England teams over the past four years. He is committed to long-term development so taking charge until Euro 2020 would enable Southgate to see if the current plans could bear fruit.

Martin Glenn, the FA chief executive, has said that Southgate is “a credible candidate” regardless of the outcome of the World Cup qualifier next Friday and the friendly with Spain four days later.

Southgate, who in the summer had ruled himself out of succeeding Roy Hodgson, said: “Whatever happens after that I will have had an incredible life experience which will have made me a better manager, no question, and everybody will know more about [my] suitability for that role. So I think our guys are then going to want to interview people to see who the best candidates are and go through a process, I’m sure.”

Southgate is enjoying working with the senior players and wants to assess whether he feels the manager-team relationship would benefit England. “Really then I will have an idea of what I am able to do, what I’m able to affect, how that has been with the players, how that has been with the staff and how I feel myself really. All I can say is I have enjoyed the period up to now.”

Gareth Southgate was speaking to students on the UK’s only Football Journalism degree course, at the University of Derby, www.derby.ac.uk/journalism