Ryan Mason has wasted no time in throwing his hat into the ring for the permanent Tottenham job, saying he has "no doubt" he is ready to be a manager full-time.
Mason, 31, was named as Spurs’ second acting head coach of the season on Monday, succeeding Cristian Stellini who was sacked following the humiliating 6-1 defeat to Newcastle.
The former Spurs and England midfielder also took charge of the final six games of the 2020-21 campaign after the sacking of Jose Mourinho, and will have the same number of matches this time around to make his case to the club and salvage something from their miserable season.
Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, is leading the search for a permanent successor to Antonio Conte, who left by mutual agreement at the end of March, with Luis Enrique, Julian Nagelsmann, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and Feyenoord boss Arne Slot among the candidates.
Mason has been coaching for six years since he was forced to retire early after an horrific skull fracture but faces a tough job, with Manchester United the visitors on Thursday before a visit to Anfield to face Liverpool.
"Obviously I’m ready and if that situation happens it obviously means I have done a good job," said Mason. "But that is obviously in the future of four five six weeks’ time, the immediate thought is the game on Thursday and the game on Sunday.
"We have big weeks before anyone in here can start to think of that situation."
Mason added: "I have been coaching six years, which I think is a long time. I have spent a lot of time on grass, but, probably more importantly for me, the people I have worked with and come across have accelerated my growth as an individual.
"Of course there’s many people I trust and value their opinion in this training centre and also outside who I am always in communication with.
"Naturally, I feel comfortable, [the events of last few days] is just part of being involved in football," he added.
"You have to be ready and I am ready. I don’t doubt that. It’s just business. We’ve got a really, really big game Thursday and another one on Sunday. The focus on my behalf and the group is just to prepare for that."
Mason was part of Antonio Conte’s first-team coaching staff but surprisingly overlooked for the interim job when the Italian was sacked on March 26, with Stellini instead stepping up from assistant head coach.
His disastrous four-game interregnum ended with the embarrassing defeats to Bournemouth and Newcastle, surely costing Spurs a chance of matching last season’s top-four finish.
"I have always said what this club feels best for me in this period of my career, I will do," Mason said. "We felt [Stellini taking over] was best, the club felt that was best so I was absolutely happy to do that. Obviously it didn’t go as we had all planned but we’re in this situation now where we can focus on the next six games. Hopefully we can have a positive impact on the rest of the season and set us up for next season."
Mason demanded a "reaction" from his players after the reverse on Tyneside and said his priority was to get some positivity back in the squad.
He suggested he was unlikely to make wholesale changes for United’s visit but said he hoped to able to put his "stamp" on the side by the end of the campaign.
Asked what he wanted to see against United, he said: "A reaction. Absolutely a reaction. Obviously Sunday was disappointing for us and I would hope and expect there’s a reaction from not only the players but everyone in the building and everyone involved in the club as well.
"[The plan] at the moment is to get some sort of energy and some sort of positivity back into the group. But not only the group, the fans and the club have to be realistic as well when you have two or three training sessions before two games. It’s hard to change a great deal but I would hope and expect towards the end of the season that everyone, not only inside but outside, will see my stamp and our stamp on the group."
Hugo Lloris who was replaced at half-time against Newcastle is a doubt to face United with a "muscle problem" while Mason said defenders Clement Lenglet and Ben Davies, both unused substitutes on Sunday, would be assessed on Wednesday afternoon following injuries.
