Marathon man Wilshere 'ready' for Norwich sprint

Jack Wilshere was Arsenal Under-18s manager before joining Norwich as first-team coach in October

Jack Wilshere will take charge of Norwich City for the first time on Saturday less than 24 hours before running the London Marathon.

The former Arsenal and England midfielder was named interim manager for the rest of the season on Tuesday following the sacking of Johannes Hoff Thorup.

He believes he is ready to take a head coach role on a full-time basis, despite being only 33, but the short-term focus is to lift the mood around Carrow Road following Norwich's failure to reach the Championship play-offs.

"I came here as part of Johannes' staff and I believed in him - he had my full backing the whole way," Wilshere told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"I feel some responsibility, of course I do. There's mixed emotions but then you have to start thinking 'what do I see in the team, how can I try and affect how we play and where are the small wins we can get?'

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster but I've got good people around me," added Wilshere, who will be assisted by Tony Roberts and Nick Stanley.

The Canaries are away to Middlesbrough on Saturday before ending the season against Cardiff City in front of their own fans on 3 May.

They are 14th in the table, 13 points adrift of the top six, and can finish no higher than 12th, even if they win both remaining games.

Wilshere said his biggest task was to energise the players and hope to achieve enough improvement to show sporting director Ben Knapper that he should be considered for the full-time role.

"My understanding from when I was a player and seeing top players around me, players that were successful and players that weren't successful, is the ones that were successful did it every single game and could get themselves up for a game even if it had nothing on it," said Wilshere.

He learned about Thorup's departure after being phoned by Knapper on Tuesday morning while he was putting his gear on for a marathon training run, and asked to come to the club for a chat.

"When you're in the inner circle, of course you know the results aren't good enough and the disappointment from the fans, we've felt that at times, but even so I was surprised [by the decision]," Wilshere said.

"I've been in the role for two and a half days. I feel like I'm ready to make an impact at this level, I want to be a head coach at this level, but if you start thinking too much about that you can get carried away.

"To be offered it, I'd probably have to show Ben that I can make the team perform and the next two games will give you more answers than speaking to me."

Asked about his London Marathon prospects, Wilshere said: "In a strange way I was nervous until Tuesday because I was just thinking about the marathon - 'can I complete it, or in what time?'

"Since Tuesday, I haven't really thought about it. I probably should start thinking about it after the [Middlesbrough] game at some point. But I'll be OK.

"The charity I'm running for is really close to my heart and when you have that in your mind and are determined to do something, you'll do it. I might be in a bad way, but I'll complete it."