Steve Agnew has not been put off management despite failing to keep Middlesbrough in the Premier League.
Assistant head coach Agnew was asked to replace Aitor Karanka in March with 11 games remaining and he will head into the final of those at Liverpool on Sunday having been unable to prevent Boro from hurtling back towards the Sky Bet Championship.
In some respects it has proved to be a bruising experience, but the 51-year-old claims he remains as keen as ever to manage in his own right one day.
He said: "Being an assistant manager over the last five years is something I have particularly enjoyed, and it's always been top end of the Championship, promotion, staying in the Premier League.
"Being the number one is different and it's something that I've enjoyed. But at the end of it all, I've been very, very disappointed with the outcome.
"But has it put me off wanting eventually to be a manager? No, it hasn't."
Boro have won only one and drawn three of the 10 matches for which Agnew has been in charge, and their return to the Championship was confirmed by a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea on May 8.
He was thrown in at the deep end, but has insisted he has largely enjoyed the experience.
He said: "I've enjoyed it in some ways. Obviously I knew at the time it was a huge challenge and there has been a hell of a lot to deal with, but it's been enjoyable.
"Obviously at the end of it, we didn't get what we set out to achieve and that's the disappointment. Having lost our place in the Premier League is the biggest disappointment, and that's something that's been very difficult to accept.
"But, at the same time, I have learnt lots of different things about players and coaching and management."
Agnew has been coy throughout his reign as to what the future might hold with chairman Steve Gibson having challenged him to make the permanent job his own.
Gibson has identified a series of potential targets - former Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs is understood not to be among them - after revealing in a radio interview that he wants to "smash" the Championship next season.
Agnew said: "It's not about my situation. It's a game on Sunday that we need to prepare for and anything that gets in the way of that is a distraction, so I'll continue to do that work.
"Once the Liverpool game is over, then I am sure conversations will take place."
Source: PA
