Phil Brown 'interested in England assistant manager job'

Southend United manager Phil Brown has said that he would be interested in being Sam Allardyce's assistant as England boss.

Allardyce is expected to be confirmed as the new manager of the national team by the end of this week, beating off competition from the likes of Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe to land the role.

Brown was Allardyce's assistant at Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers earlier in his career, but turned down the chance to be his number two again at Sunderland last October.

"When the national assistant role comes around it's a different ball game altogether," said the 57-year-old.

"I wouldn't have said I'm in the running, but if that comes around it's different to being assistant manager at a domestic team. When he offered me the assistant manager's role at Sunderland it was a really tough decision for me to turn it down.

"Once you've been a manager, to go back as a number two it was a big ask for me, so I would hope he respected that."

Brown has been in charge of Southend since 2013, leading them into League One via the playoffs during the 2014-15 campaign.