Former Doncaster Rovers skipper applies for manager job at League Two newcomers Barrow

The 40-year-old, who skippered and co-managed Rovers to the League One title in 2012, has a rich pedigree in youth coaching and is currently doing work part-time with the academy at Middlesbrough.

He now feels the time is right to make the step back into full-time professional football and described an eventual move into management as a ‘burning ambition’. He has also applied for the under-23s job at Swansea City.

Barrow were promoted to League Two in unusual circumstances after the National League was curtailed last month.

Their manager Ian Evatt has moved on to take charge at Bolton Wanderers. Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder David Dunn is the short-odds favourite to take the job.

Speaking to the Free Press, Jones said: “There’s a few things out there that I’m looking at, but like everyone else it’s about being given the opportunity and being given that chance to show what you can do.

“I’ve got a lot to give, a lot of knowledge and a lot of expertise on that side, so hopefully something will fall sooner rather than later.

“There’s a few I’ve applied for. You’ve got to apply, apply, apply. And in this modern era, a lot of it already seems to be done.

“I’ll keep pushing and I’ll keep trying. One will come off sooner rather than later.”

Jones has senior coaching experience at Rovers, who he joined as captain following Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion to the Championship in 2012, when he took over for the second half of the season alongside Brian Flynn after the departure of Dean Saunders.

Jones later spent six weeks as the club’s caretaker boss in 2015, prior to the appointment of Darren Ferguson.

“Would I love to be a manager? I’d love it,” he said. “Whatever level that is, I think I’m ready to be a manager.

“It’s a burning desire to become a manager. When that time comes, I don’t know. Right now I just want to coach, that’s my passion I want to influence the next group that comes through.

“I had the spell at Doncaster the first time we won the league, which whet the appetite an awful lot.

“But it’s difficult to get in and I’ll be brutally honest, it’s a lot more difficult than I thought it would be when I first came out of playing. You do think it’s easy, but it’s not.

“Three years I’ve had now, I’ve been coaching and coaching at different levels and different standards, it’s helped me and will make me a better manager for the future.”