Lee Carsley appears to rule himself out of the permanent England job in his post-match ITV interview… before backtracking in press conference as confusion reigns

Lee Carsley intensified the confusion over whether he wants the England job on permanent basis after Sunday night’s convincing victory over Finland.

England returned to winning ways following Thursday’s loss to Greece thanks to goals from Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice here in Helsinki on Sunday.

But Carsley once again raised uncertainty over his desire to be appointed the next full-time England head coach.

Mail Sport reported on Sunday that the Football Association hold major reservations over whether Carsley wants to be considered for the permanent job – and in an interview with ITV he appeared to rule himself out of the running for the position by saying: ‘People are always going to try and put chips on the side. I’m genuinely in the middle.

‘This is a job that deserves a world class coach who’s won trophies, I’m still on the path to doing that.’

But the interim boss later backtracked during a confusing post-match press conference

But in his post-match press conference, Carsley insisted his comments to ITV were not an admission that he had ruled himself out of the running.

Asked if the interpretation that he had withdrawn from the race was wrong, Carsley answered: ‘Definitely.

‘I think it’s important I do the best that I can. It’s a privilege to do this job. I feel well trusted. It’s a great job and whoever gets it will prove deserving.

Asked if he thought the permanent job was too soon in his coaching career for him to accept now he said: ‘Definitely not. I tried to make it clear as I could.

‘My remit was three camps in the Nations League. The point I was trying to make is it is one of the top jobs in the world and it deserves a top coach.

‘I’m finding this job a challenge in good way.’

England cruised to a 3-1 win against Finland with Jack Grealish (left) and Declan Rice (right) both scoring, but it is no clearer who the next permanent manager will be

Asked why he was so reluctant to state one way or another whether he wants the job, Carsley added: ‘I’m reluctant because in the past when I’ve done this interim/caretaker role I’ve gone so far down the “I don’t want the job” that I’ve actually not done the job.

‘One of the things I spoke about when I was asked to take temporary charge is that it’s important I keep an open mind, because in that case I’ve not been reckless with my decisions.

‘I’m thinking thoroughly about how the team should play and the squad I should pick. That’s the challenge because squad selection is very difficult – the players we should pick and leave out – and I’ve got another camp to do and it’s just a shame we can’t play Greece next week.’