Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy refuses to point blank rule himself out of the running for the vacant Republic of Ireland job, saying ‘whatever will be, will be’.

The Blues boss is contracted at Portman Road until June 2015 and has spoken positively about the long-term job he is building at the Championship club.

However, speculation that the Republic of Ireland will try and entice him back into his former job will not go away. When Giovanni Trappatoni left the role last month, McCarthy insisted that the out-of-work Martin O’Neill was a ‘shoo-in’ for the job.

More than a month has passed since then though and it has been reported that O’Neill feels he still has unfinished business in club management.

And McCarthy – who is now the favourite for the job with many bookmakers – this afternoon refused to kill off any of the growing speculation.

Asked if being continually linked with the job was frustrating, flattering or annoying, he replied: “Probably all of those things at times! I can’t help it, I just concentrate on my job and whatever will be will be.”

When asked if he had been contacted by the Irish FA, he simply said: “No, I haven’t, no.”

And when asked whether he could rule himself out of the running, he said: “If somebody asks me the question (from the FAI), I tell you what I’ll do – I’ll tell them.”

When it was pointed out that many Ipswich fans could be concerned, he replied: “I know, and you’ve just gone around the houses asking me the same question. The answer still is, if somebody asks me the question (from the FAI) then I’ll tell them.

“I think if anybody wants to ask me the question then they should ask Marcus Evans first because I’m under contract here until June 2015.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT for full story.