Ljungberg leaves Arsenal job talk to the 'top dogs' with Ancelotti lined up

Freddie Ljungberg claims he is yet to discuss the possibility of taking the Arsenal job on a permanent basis.

Standard Sport understands the 42-year-old could be viewed as a genuine contender if he instigates a sufficient turnaround in fortunes, although the club are exploring external options including Mikel Arteta, Patrick Vieira, Carlo Ancelotti and Massimiliano Allegri.

Ljungberg secured his first win as interim head coach at West Ham on Monday and will look to generate some momentum with another success in the Gunners' final Europa League Group F engagement at Standard Liege tomorrow.

And asked whether he sees the present period as an audition with him in the running for the job, Ljungberg replied: "That's not a conversation I've had with the bosses.

"My job is to go from day to day, game to game, to try to help this fantastic club. That's what I try to do. All of those decisions are up to the top dogs."

And asked specifically about whether Ancelotti could be a success with Arsenal planning to talk to the 60-year-old following his sacking by Napoli, Ljungberg added: "I've been asked this question a lot since I took over and I just try to concentrate on my job – that is to win football games and get us to play better football.

"What the club decides to do or who they choose it is totally up to them but I stay totally out of it."

Ljungberg has selected a youthful squad with one eye on Sunday's Premier League visit of Manchester City with Zech Medley likely to start at left-back after Kieran Tierney was ruled out for three months with a dislocated right shoulder.

Hector Bellerin (hamstring) and Granit Xhaka (concussion) are also out along with Nicolas Pepe and Rob Holding (both knee) in addition to longer term absentee Dani Ceballos (hamstring).

And speaking about the mounting injury concerns, Ljungberg added: "It's not good. We got one in the warm up at West Ham [Bellerin], another full back in the game [Tierney].

"It's one of those freak things. one is to the head, another is the shoulder in a tackle. We can't do much about it, obviously it puts a strain on the squad but that is how it is.

"We have a few injuries, and we've played a lot of games lately. We have another game (against Manchester City) on Sunday.

"But we've brought a lot of firepower here, we have younger players here who have played earlier in the group stages, not just now. They've been playing the whole time. So it's a big game and we're here to get a result. We have a lot of respect for the opponents."

Arsenal will qualify in top spot with a win while only a five-goal defeat here would leave them at risk of crashing out.