LUTHER Blissett insists the time is not right for Eddie Howe to take the Three Lions hot seat – and says the top English candidates are Glenn Hoddle and Sam Allardyce.

Cherries boss Howe has been heavily linked with the job since the resignation of Roy Hodgson following the shock last-16 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.

At the weekend, the Daily Mail stated Howe was “preparing to talk to the Football Association" while the Telegraph reported the 38-year-old was among the "leading candidates".

However, ex-Cherries striker Blissett, who represented England on 14 occasions during his playing career, believes Howe needs more experience as a Premier League manager before making the step up to the international game.

Blissett told the Daily Echo: "From the time Bournemouth won promotion to the Premier League, Eddie has been spoken about as a future England manager.

"With Roy Hodgson going, the speculation starts and people say, 'why not do it now?' But there is no rush for Eddie to jump ship and to take the England job.

"Managing international players is a different situation to managing league players and I'm sure Eddie would be the first to tell you that himself.

"It's brilliant to be linked with the national team and going forward there is a time and a place to look at that properly. But at the moment, I don't think it would be ideal.

"He has done an amazing job at Bournemouth but the international scene is something you need to have a look at before you jump into. The timing of it is probably not right for him."

Howe has one season of top-flight management behind him having guided Cherries to safety last term.

And while Blissett has great respect for Howe's management skills, the former Watford man says there is no substitute for sustained success at the top level.

Blissett said: "Professional footballers tend to look at someone and think 'what are their credentials and experience?'. He will have to overcome that obstacle before he can start to do what he does.

"When he has had more experience of managing in the Premier League for another season or two, people can judge him over a period of time.

"His credentials will be much stronger by then and when his name is put forward people can say 'yes' because they can look back at his track record.

"The timing could be perfect for him in another two or three years."

Quizzed on who he believed would be in the frame for the job, Blissett added: "The reasons Glenn Hoddle left England (in the 1990s) were not football reasons and anyone who has played for him knows what he is capable of.

"Sam Allardyce is a fantastic man manager and has done that wherever he has been.

"Those two could be the ones it comes down to if it is a British manager."