Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington has declared his interest in the vacant Sheffield Wednesday job.
We’re sorry. This video is unavailable from your location.
The Hillsborough club parted company with Brian Laws after dropping into the Championship relegation zone and are without a win in nine games following their 3-0 defeat to Leicester City at the weekend.
Speaking to UTV from Sheffield where he attended the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony, Worthington said he was "seriously" considering his options.
"It's never easy to walk away, he said.
"But I've got to look at my options. It's very bizarre... The timing of the IFA contract expiring and a job at one of my former clubs becomes available. I don't think anybody could have predicted that was going to happen."
Former full-back Worthington played Premier League football in the 1990s at Wednesday and made over 400 appearances during a decade's service at the club.
The 48-year old has two weeks left to discuss a new contract with the IFA as Northern Ireland boss, but an agreement currently looks far from assured.
"Until you've got something concrete that I'm happy with and the Association is happy with, then you have to look at other options. It would be wrong of me not to do that", Worthington told UTV.
"I have to do that and I will do that until we can agree or cannot agree on something and go our separate ways."
No official contact has yet been made by the Owls, and Worthington insists the allegations are still at the "rumours" stage.
Darren Ferguson, formerly the Peterborough manager, is the other name in the frame for the Wednesday job alongside Steve Coterill.
On Friday, the IFA President Raymond Kennedy told UTV that any suggestion that talks with Nigel Worthington over a new contract had stalled was "totally wide of the mark".
But the NI manager has now said he was disappointed after details of his negotiations with the IFA were leaked to the media.
"What disappointed me was that it was in the press the day after (the initial talks took place). As far as I'm concerned we're having discussions on a contract. That's private and confidential. Until such time when there is something to report to the public, those discussions should be kept behind closed doors," Worthington said.
Worthington has always insisted he "enjoyed" his time as Northern Ireland manager. He told UTV he was now waiting for the IFA to come back to him with an offer.
© UTV News