Paul Heckingbottom would 'love' to be in charge of Barnsley until the end of the season with the club not planning to interview other candidates in the near future.

The Royston man led the Reds to a 3-0 win at home to Bury on Sunday, after a whirlwind 72 hours in which head coach Lee Johnson took them to Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy then left to join Bristol City.

Heckingbottom is expected to be given the next three games as caretaker and a continuation of the good form that has seen Barnsley win seven league matches in a row is likely to earn him the job until at least the end of the season.

Heckingbottom, 38, played 53 games in a two-year spell with the Reds and scored a penalty in the 2006 play-off final shoot-out against Swansea the last time they were promoted from League One.

He said: "I would love to get the job on a permanent basis but we are just taking one game at a time. I am a Barnsley boy and a former season ticket holder. I turned down clubs to play for them and turned down coaching jobs to coach them. I love the club.  

"The owner and the board will be weighing up whether they need to bring in someone else or stick with the current coaching set-up. They are happy with the results so I have just been told to keep it going.

"Myself and Tommy Wright have not been doing much different to what we had been doing anyway.  We had roles within the set up before that were very similar so it has not been a big adjustment. We've just taken on a bit more responsibility.  Lee has gone because the team has been doing really well so it is just a case of keeping doing the same things."

Chief executive Ben Mansford told the Chronicle: "We have not met anyone about the head coach position and we are not planning to, at least in the near future. We have got every confidence in the staff we have at this football club. We want to see how far this current set-up can take us.

"The players told us very early on that they wanted Paul and Tommy to take over and they had their full support which they showed against Bury (a 3-0 win on Sunday).  We have seen Paul's development from a part-time under 14s coach.  He's incredibly well-qualified and has been earmarked by the FA as a young and up-and-coming coach.

"He was born in Barnsley, he played for Barnsley and he has been involved in a Barnsley side that has been promoted from this division before as a player. "His family are in Barnsley and this is where Paul wants to be.  If now is his time, then great, if not then it will come for him eventually."

Heckingbottom is currently being helped by Wright who was Johnson's assistant at Oldham and Barnsley.           The Reds confirmed there has been no approach for Wright from Bristol while Johnson is expected to work with John Pemberton who had been the Robins' caretaker since the sacking of Steve Cotterill last month.

In his first press conference as City boss, Johnson said: "Tommy Wright is a fantastic assistant but he is contracted to Barnsley. We have some very good staff at Bristol City as well. "Me and John Pemberton are very aligned in our way of thinking."