Newcastle United caretaker coach John Carver feels that he is still the frontrunner for the job on a permanent basis ahead of Derby County manager Steve McClaren.

The Derby boss has been linked with the job at Newcastle and Carver met the former England manager at an U21 game this week.

Carver revealed part of the conversation he had with McClaren, saying the pair refrained from talking about the current managerial situation, of which the Toon boss is confident he will remain in.

Carver said: "I spoke to Steve down at Derby, we had a good chat and he was interested in what I've had to deal with, he asked me how I was coping.

"We didn't talk about anything other than my situation, he said I'm handling it well. Whether he's in for it or not, he has to give me respect, so we were never going to talk about it.

"There was nothing about what all the rumours are, or anything like that.

"I didn't spin it the other way, either. I'm in pole position at the moment, and we were never going to talk about anything like that."

Carver has failed to impress during a turbulent four-month spell, winning just two of his 16 games in charge of the Magpies.