TONY Parkes is set to remain in charge of Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season.

The popular caretaker has admitted he's had a rethink about the post following Tuesday night's demolition of Bolton Wanderers.

And, after a meeting between Jack Walker and his board yesterday, the club have now decided to sit down with Parkes once tomorrow's FA Cup tie with West Brom is out of the way and invite him to take over until the end of the season.

The 50-year-old coach has insisted he does not want the job on a permanent basis since stepping in as caretaker last month.

But he has since led Rovers on a magnificent seven-game unbeaten run.

And that, together with the backing of the players, has persuaded him to have a change of heart.

"As the games go on and the points keep getting collected, it obviously becomes a little bit more difficult for me to keep saying no, no, no as adamantly as I've done," said Parkes.

"In the next few games we'll see what happens and we might look down another road.

"But it would be a shame if the run did carry on and someone came in and took over all the good work that has been done.

"So things have changed a little bit.

"It's been encouraging that one or two of the players have spoken to me and suggested and asked me why I haven't been interested in taking the job. "And that's a big factor, the fact the players are with you, they respect you and seem to be enjoying what's happening.

"So I wouldn't rule out staying in charge until the end of the season.

"But we'll just have to wait and see."

Parkes said the board had not yet approached him about taking over until the end of the season. But after the impressive way in which they swept aside Bolton on Tuesday, Rovers would be loathed to bring in a new man at this stage.

The club had been working on short-list of targets, including the likes of Norwich boss Bruce Rioch and Charlton's Alan Curbishley, and others remain interested on a longer-term basis.

But Rovers don't want further changes to wreck their chances of promotion.

Chief executive John Williams refused to confirm that the club are about to turn to Parkes.

But he did admit that recent results have given the board another option.

"I know Tony has consistently said he does not want the job but his results have been excellent, there's no doubt about that," said Williams.

"They bought us some time at the start of his run and now these self-same results have given us another option.

"But nothing will be happening on the manager's front before tomorrow." Jack Walker today refused to be drawn on the situation apart from revealing the club have talked to a lot of people about the vacancy. "We had a football meeting yesterday and we are still interested in a lot of other people,"said Walker.

"We've done a lot of work and spoken to a lot of people and we want to get the decision right."

A firm appointment will be welcomed by the players, who will be happy to see an end to the uncertainty and focus on their attempt to win promotion back to the Premiership.

"It needs clearing up one way or the other. Everybody's in limbo," said winger Jason Wilcox.

"It's the board and Mr Walker's decision to bring somebody in or not, or whether they keep Tony. All we can do is give 100 per cent on the pitch."

Parkes' next job will be to try and guide Rovers into the fourth round of the FA Cup by winning against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns tomorrow.

And he could have problems down the left with Wilcox (groin strain) and Damien Duff (hamstring) both struggling to be fit. But Matt Jansen has been added to the squad that beat Bolton.

Rovers: Kelly, Grayson, Peacock, Dailly, Harkness, McAteer, FRandsen, Carsley, Wilcox, Ward, Blake, Ostenstad, Keena, Dunn, Taylor, Jansen, Filan (gk).

Meanwhile, Baggies boss Brian Little is expected to recall veteran midfielder Andy Towsend and alongside him Italian youngster Enzo Maresca after they missed the mid-week defeat at Crewe.

And Northern Ireland international James Quinn is also expected to return to partner Lee Hughes up front.

West Brom: Miller, Burgess, Carbon, Sigurdsson, Raven, Kilbane, Sneekes, Townsend, Maresca, Quinn, Hughes, Evans, DeFreitas, McDermott, Van Blerk, Chambers, Adamson (gk).

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