Alan Shearer believes Gareth Southgate has got the best chance of landing the England manager's job on a full-time basis.
Southgate is preparing to take charge of first England match against Malta on Saturday at Wembley since being appointed as interim manager following the departure of Sam Allardyce.
The 46-year-old will remain in control of first-team affairs for a further three matches and Sky Sports News HQ understand the FA will not begin the recruitment process for a new permanent England manager until after the friendly match with Spain on November 15.
"He [Southgate] has got the best interview of anyone because he's there, he's got the job he wants and hopefully he can go and get the results and stake a great claim for the job. But he has to decide that," Shearer told Sky Sports News HQ.
Southgate, who has won 27 of his 34 matches as England U21 manager, refused to rule himself out of contention to become the long-term successor to Allardyce when asked about the role on Monday.
He previously said in the summer he felt he lacked the experience to become England manager after being linked with the vacancy following Roy Hodgson's departure.
But Shearer added: "He'll love it and he'll bring honesty, integrity and enthusiasm.
"He'll know a lot of the players anyway because of working with the under-21s, he was at St George's Park when the full team were working there anyway.
"He knows the system, so I'm hopeful that he can do very well."