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Ahead of Chelsea match, Carver warns managerless Newcastle could drift

Newcastle caretaker boss John Carver has warned the Magpies risk "drifting" if they do not act swiftly to appoint a permanent successor to Alan Pardew.

Carver has made no secret of the fact he wants the job and is expected to remain in charge for Saturday's trip to Chelsea and the following week's home clash with Southampton.

Newcastle have reportedly made contact with former Lyon boss Remi Garde over the vacancy but he remains just one of a number of candidates noted by chief executive Lee Charnley.

Carver said: "The dressing room is settled at the moment but the longer it goes on it can become unsettled. I've been in this situation before and it can affect people.

"If you don't do something about it in a short space of time you can end up drifting. And what this football club can't be doing is drifting so a decision has to be made sooner rather than later.

"When I had the conversation with Lee I said, 'I want to throw my hat in the ring. You want the right coach and you can't allow this to go on and on and on.

"What they're not going to do and rightly so is make a rash decision and say 'we'll take him'. They need time and I understand that. He trusts me to do the job while they can have their thinking time."

Carver's audition did not get off to the best of starts with last week's FA Cup defeat at Leicester after which he was criticised for naming a weakened team.

Carver maintained a number of top stars including Moussa Sissoko, Fabricio Coloccini and Daryl Janmaat were injured, but all three will be fit to return at Stamford Bridge.

But Carver remains bullish about his side's hopes of success this season, even hinting at an improbable challenge for a UEFA Europa League spot.

Carver added: "We finished fifth a couple of years ago and that was fantastic, so why can't we push fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth?

"There's all this talk that the club is happy to sit in the top 10. But no, set your marker as high as you can and if you can get there then what an achievement.

"We've proved we're capable of that when we had our recent run of six wins on the bounce."

Despite the links with Garde, Carver is adamant he still has time to make his case and that wrapping up a famous league double over Jose Mourinho's men could sway United managing director Lee Charnley.

Carver added: "That's the unfortunate thing about being caretaker-manager, you are on interview all the time.

"It's a bit unfortunate because normally a new manager is given time to put his ways across.

"I know the pitfalls and what comes with it. It hasn't been a great few days. But I love it. I still want to do it and I have the drive and enthusiasm to do it."

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