Tottenham's Harry Redknapp is in the running to be the next England manager, according to Football Association acting chief executive Alex Horne.
Horne expects Redknapp to be on the list of contenders when Fabio Capello's successor is chosen. But the FA insist the next England boss could still be foreign.
"Harry Redknapp is a great manager," said Horne. "Tottenham are playing great football and to qualify well for the Champions League (knockout stage) from a position of being fourth favourites in the group is huge testimony to that."
He added: "I would expect Harry to make a long list (for the England job). It may not be a very long long list."
Horne was speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme and he revealed no process had yet been discussed for appointing the successor to Capello, who is set to leave after the European Championships in 2012.
"He's there till 2012 which gives me 18, 19 months to prepare for that process," said Horne.
"It is not a policy decision that they (the contenders) would be English. It is an absolute preference for certain individuals. It is not yet a board decision.
"We thought about this long and hard when we got Fabio Capello. We got the right man for the job and that is what we will do again.
"It is not a policy decision that they will definitely be English.
"I will be finalising the selection process criteria during the first few months of next year for internal discussion."
Source: PA
