David Unsworth calls on Everton owner Farhad Moshiri to appoint new manager as soon as possible

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Everton caretaker manager David Unsworth has urged owner Farhad Moshiri to make a permanent appointment quickly but played down suggestions of unhappiness with his own treatment.

Moshiri, Everton's majority shareholder, released a statement to talkSPORT on Friday morning which revealed he had three names on a shortlist, and hoped to get the new man in place soon.

Watford manager Marco Silva, RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick and the experienced Sam Allardyce have all been linked with the Goodison Park hot seat since Ronald Koeman was sacked 33 days ago.

David Unsworth has called on Everton owner Farhad Moshiri to hire a new manager quickly

Unsworth stated he 'does not know' if he is on Moshiri's shortlist having only heard about the statement made by the Iranian shortly before his afternoon media briefing.

The former Everton defender, 44, was asked if the timing of Moshiri's announcement – while he was working with the club's players on the training ground – demonstrated a lack of respect.

'What will be, will be,' Unsworth said in response.

'I am a proud man and I have stood proud for five weeks. Until someone tells me otherwise I will continue to be a proud man.

Moshiri has narrowed down the search for a new Everton boss to three names

'Before I came into the press conference I was made aware of it so I am delighted if that's the case.

'The sooner it's sorted the better, I think that would be fair comment.

'This is a wonderful job for any aspiring manager, any senior manager, any manager of any club in the world.'

Unsworth also backed Everton centre-back Michael Keane to come good following a difficult start to his career at Goodison Park since a £30m move from Burnley in the summer.

It appears Unsworth will not get the job full time after failing to impress since taking charge

'Is his confidence as high it could be? Probably not,' he added ahead of Everton's trip to Southampton on Sunday.

'I just think Michael and our back four have to return to basics. In terms of defending, anyway, it's okay to put the ball in row z and be organised to keep a clean sheet.

'We have seen in spells he is more than capable of producing performances. Michael will be fine because he is the right type; he is honest, humble, and he is keen to learn.'