Ryan Mason insists he is ready to manage Tottenham on a permanent basis after Julian Nagelsmann was reportedly ruled out of contention to take charge of the troubled Premier League club.
Nagelsmann had been widely touted as the front runner for the Tottenham job since his sacking by Bayern Munich in March.
When Antonio Conte left Tottenham by mutual consent soon after Nagelsmann's dramatic exit from the Bundesliga champions, it was anticipated the German would be in the running for the vacancy in north London.
But the 35-year-old will not be interviewing for the Tottenham post and he is not on the club's list of candidates, according to reports on Friday.
That leaves interim boss Mason as a potential candidate and, speaking before the Nagelsmann news broke, he listed Newcastle boss Eddie Howe as an inspiration after he took the Bournemouth job at the same age of 31.
"I've always said I'm ready," Mason said ahead of Tottenham's trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
"I'm ready for this moment. I feel like I can help the club. That's my general feeling and I'll stay true to that. That's been my feeling ever since the club trusted me to take on this responsibility.
"Obviously, you mentioned Eddie Howe and he is an incredible manager. He's an inspiration.
"I think one, probably not spoken about a great deal as well, is Gary O'Neil. The job that he's done at Bournemouth has gone under the radar a little bit but a young English manager and his first job."
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, former Spain coach Luis Enrique and Feyenoord boss Arne Slot are believed to be on Tottenham's shortlist.
Last weekend's 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace earned Mason a first win during his second stint as Tottenham interim boss.
During his first spell in 2021, he won four of his six Premier League games.
"I'm in a position where I need to do a job to the best of our abilities with my coaching team," Mason said.
"We're professionals so every decision we make is in the best interests of the team and the football club."
smg/dmc
