FA general secretary Alex Horne said a list of potential candidates to succeed Fabio Capello has been drawn up but that they did not want to disrupt clubs' seasons.

The confirmation of the FA's plan of action means they should avoid any accusations of destabilising a club by approaching a manager.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who has stated his priority is ensuring Spurs finish the season in third place in the Barclays Premier League to qualify for the Champions League, remains the overwhelming favourite to succeed Capello but the FA have not made any approaches to any candidate.

Horne, speaking on his arrival at the International FA Board meeting in Bagshot, said: "We've got a list. Long, short.... there's definitely a list. It's a back-end-of-the-season decision for us.

"We recognise that a lot of the managers on the list are employed and we don't want to interrupt anyone's season.

"We're not rushing this and we are expecting something at the back end of the season."

Horne is one of a four-man group who are deciding on the England manager appointment, along with FA chairman David Bernstein, director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking and Club England managing director Adrian Bevington.

Brooking has insisted there would be no issue in "parachuting in" a manager just before Euro 2012 and Horne agreed.

"That's perfectly realistic," Horne said. "We've got all of our operational plans in place. We can deliver a squad into Poland so it is perfectly possible."

England under-21 boss Stuart Pearce, who was in charge of the senior team for Wednesday's 3-2 friendly defeat by Holland, has said he is prepared to take charge of the side for the European Championships if necessary.

That looks a possibility only if things failed to materialise with Redknapp, who turned 65 today - the retirement age in many professions.

Redknapp has no plans to leave football just yet, however.

"I'm not retiring, no. Not yet, no," he said.

Pearce has also ruled out taking the job on a permanent basis and the FA, who would prefer to appoint an Englishman if they can, would have few other immediate options apart from Redknapp and West Brom manager Roy Hodgson.

Martin O'Neill, an Ulsterman, is also an option if the FA look further afield - the Sunderland boss was interviewed for the job when Steve McClaren was appointed six years ago.

If the FA look beyond Britain, then Arsenal's Arsene Wenger would have to at least be approached, as would Jose Mourinho, who has hinted that he might be tempted to leave Real Madrid to return to England.