'At this moment in time': New boss Mick McCarthy on whether he'd like to stay at Blackpool beyond short-term spell

The 63-year-old has replaced Michael Appleton on a deal until the end of the season, tasked with one thing and one thing only: keep the Seasiders in the Championship at any cost.

The veteran manager has 19 games to achieve that objective, with his new club currently sat 23rd in the table, three points adrift of safety.

When asked if he would be interested in staying longer should it go well, McCarthy said: “At this moment in time, I’m not bothered. That’s a discussion for later, isn’t it?

“When you start off thinking like that…I’ve agreed to take it until the end of the season, so that’s me.

“I sincerely hope that I’m sat on my holidays in May/June and they’re talking about me that they’d like me to stay. Fans are talking that they’d like me to stay. That would be nice and then we’ll find out.

“But the only way that’s going to happen is by staying in the league, so there’s no point talking about it.”

McCarthy returns to management after spending 14 months out of the game following his sacking at Cardiff City.

While McCarthy has enjoyed a rare spell on the sidelines after 31 years in the game, he has no eyes on retirement just yet.

“I like being out there, I want to be doing this job,” he added.

“I’m not going to lie, I’ve enjoyed my time off. It was 14 months and it was getting a bit too long, so it’s great to be back.

“It’s lovely that somebody has trusted me and TC (assistant Terry Connor) with the opportunity to help a Championship club and a club like this with such a good history and I’ve really loved it so far.

“Everybody is straightforward. I’ve met loads of fans walking around and I’m looking forward to it.”

McCarthy takes charge of his first game this weekend when Blackpool take on Southampton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

His first league game comes away at Middlesbrough the following weekend.