Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers doesn’t think he’ll be applying for the soon-to-be vacant manager’s job at Portman Road.

The Blues announced on Thursday that boss Mick McCarthy will be leaving the club when his contract expires at the end of the season, thus ending a five-and-a-half year stint in Suffolk.

Chambers, who started working on his UEFA A License coaching badge in Ireland during the summer of 2015, has made no secret of his desire to go into management one day. However, the 32-year-old – who has racked up 276 appearances for Town over a six-year period – recently said he would ‘never be a player-manager’ because ‘I don’t think you can combine the two’.

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Declaring himself ‘gutted’ at McCarthy’s impending departure, he said: “I think it is too soon for me to be throwing my hat into the ring. You just never know what is going to happen around the corner in football but I’m fully focused on playing. I’m enjoying playing centre-half again and my only aim is to help us finish as high as we can in the league this season.”

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McCarthy’s own management career started just a month after his 33rd birthday when he was promoted to player-manager at second-tier Millwall. He went on to make just one more appearance before hanging up his boots.

Town owner Marcus Evans remains on good terms with McCarthy after an amicable split and is likely to ask the outgoing Yorkshireman for his thoughts regarding a successor.

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Speaking in September last year, the Blues boss said: “I do see him (Chambers) as a manager. He likes that leadership role and I think he likes the fact that the lads call him ‘skip’ and look up to him and respect him. The enthusiasm that he brings is great.”

Chambers, speaking last year, said: “Everything I do now, I’m trying to do with a manager’s head on. I watched the way the manager dealt with the stick he took last season – and the way he continues to deal with it – and I try and learn from him.

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“I have gained so much from working under him. I know criticism comes with the job. You get it as a player – but you get it 100 times worse as a manager.

“That hasn’t put me off doing the job in the future though. If I don’t have a crack at it I’m going to wonder how I would have coped. I want to find out.”