Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn says Gareth Southgate is a "strong candidate" for the England manager’s job but no decision over an appointment will be made quickly.
Southgate's four-game stint in interim charge of the national team came to an end on Tuesday night when two late goals denied his side victory in a friendly against Spain.
The 2-2 draw at Wembley meant two wins and two draws for Southgate since he took over from Sam Allardyce in the wake of his resignation after only 67 days.
Glenn is pleased with the work the England U21 manager has done with the senior side, and says it has probably improved his chances, but says the FA must go through a proper recruitment process before making their decision.
"We said all along that Gareth, if he wanted the job, is clearly going to be considered as a strong candidate," said Glenn, who will be responsible for the appointment along with FA chairman Greg Clarke and technical director Dan Ashworth.
"We know him and we've seen him at close quarters for a couple of years so it helps that he understands how international football works. What we said however is that we need to take stock after the four games.
"There is quite a long gap between now and the next England game in March, so we've got time. We will ask Gareth to review in detail the last four games and give him a bit of time to do that because that is part of the process.
"We will take a bit of time to reflect, but hopefully not too long. It's important that we build the right platform for success in the future. We just need to weigh up all the facts and take the time to make the right decision.
"I won't be drawn on leading candidates but Gareth is a really strong candidate and clearly after the last four games his candidacy has become much stronger. Not just based on one or two matches, but because of what we've seen over the last couple of years.
"He's got renewed confidence and is a different manager to what he was two years ago. So it is not all about assessing him on a few games, you have got to see it more in the round."