Coventry City caretaker manager Roland Nilsson admitted for the first time last night that he wants the job on a permanent basis.

The cool Swede has remained tight-lipped since he was thrust into the hot seat after Gordon Strachan’s departure a fortnight ago, but he opened up after last night’s 1-1 draw at Barnsley.

He said:

“It's up in the air at the moment but I think the club will be approaching me pretty soon. We play Saturday but then we are free for ten days after that, so there is period where we can discuss the future.

“I want the job – why not? As long as everyone is happy on both sides. I am very pleased with how things have gone over the last two weeks and I have the boys behind me which is a good sign.

“If you’ve never been a manager before it is hard to say 'yes I will take the job straight away' because you don’t know everything that is involved. But the past couple of weeks has shown me the role that I would have as manager.”

The Sky Blues looked set for their fourth straight league win under the Swede when substitute Jairo Martinez fired them in front after 53 minutes. The Honduran is the latest player to force his way into Nilsson’s thoughts after being left in the cold since his arrival at Highfield Road over a year ago.

He started the move which brought about the opening goal and finished it by heading home from six yards after Lee Hughes’ perfect centre.

But City could not hold on to their lead and Bruce Dyer hit a 79th minute equaliser to maintain Barnsley’s unbeaten record at Oakwell this season.

Nilsson was disappointed that the Sky Blues had not continued their winning run but was pleased his side had picked up a point at such a tough ground.

He said:

“I am still unbeaten as a manager but we obviously wanted to win the game – that’s just how it goes sometimes. The boys were a bit down in the dressing room but Barnsley made it hard for us and battled very well.

“I thought we were trying to score too quickly and that meant we kept losing the ball when we should have been hanging on to it for a bit longer.”