Danny Cowley, one of the early favourites to replace Mick McCarthy in the Ipswich Town hotseat, has insisted he remains fully focused on his job at Lincoln City.

With the Portman Road outfit revealing that McCarthy will depart at season’s end, bookies are already taking bets on who the new boss will be.

And Cowley is the early frontrunner, jointly with former England boss Steve McClaren, at 2/1 with Skybet.

- MORE: Who’s next for Blues?

The former Braintree boss, whose Lincoln side knocked Ipswich out of the FA Cup last season, is currently bidding for back-to-back promotions with the Imps, who sit a place and two points outside the League Two play-offs.

- WATCH: Mick McCarthy discusses his departure

He’s known to have links to the Blues, with Town fans in his family, and lives just across the border in Essex.

But quizzed about it in his weekly Lincoln press conference today, he told the Lincolnshire Echo: “Our focus remains whole-heartedly here. We’re eternally thankful for the opportunity we’ve been given here.

- MORE: Full transcript of Mick’s press conference

“We’ve been shown great loyalty by the people of Lincoln. When we’re shown loyalty we always like to reciprocate.

“Our total focus is here. We’re at the business end of the season. We’ve worked very, very hard since the end of last season to put ourselves in this position.

- MORE: Fans react to Mick’s impending departure

“It would be crazy of us to think of anything else but Lincoln City and what we’re doing between now and hopefully the end of May (when the play-off final will take place).”