MacDonald stakes claim for Villa job

Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald has told Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner that he wants to be considered for the post on a permanent basis.

MacDonald has been in charge for Villa’s opening five games of the season and has been determined to take his time before deciding on his future plans.

But the former Liverpool player wants to be considered as the full-time successor to Martin O’Neill who quit three weeks ago – five days before the new campaign got underway.

MacDonald previously had a spell as temporary boss at Leicester in the mid 1990s following the departure of Brian Little.

He has enjoyed mixed fortunes during his current tenure, steering Villa to two league wins out of three but also seeing them exit the Europa League at the final qualifying round stage.

MacDonald is aware that making himself available for the post does not mean he is guaranteed to be appointed.

“Who says I will be chosen? Whoever gets interviewed, if they come up with the right solution on how to take the club forward, that would be the right person for the job,” he said after Villa’s victory over Everton.

“It would help me being in the position. That would put me in a more favourable position than people who come in from the outside.

“But you then are going to look at people to be interviewed who have got a lot more experience, have won things and have done it at the highest level as well.”

The likes of skipper Stiliyan Petrov, James Collins and Luke Young have all backed MacDonald to be made manager in the past few days.