Malky Mackay has refused to be drawn on whether he is poised to become Norwich City's new manager but the Scot is desperate to return to the game as soon as possible.

Mackay is believed to be a on shortlist that includes Neil Adams drawn up by the Canaries' top brass who are closing in on a replacement for Chris Hughton to lead the club's fightback after relegation from the Premier League.

Gianfranco Zola and Neil Lennon also continue to be linked with the vacancy with the club's board stating after Sunday's Premier League defeat to Arsenal they aimed to make an appointment within a week.

The ex-City stalwart was at the Football Writers' Dinner in London on Thursday, along with Hughton, but Mackay was coy when asked if he is close to taking over at Carrow Road.

The former Watford and Cardiff boss is now free to return to management after resolving his differences with the Bluebirds over the past week. Cardiff were also relegated along with City and Fulham after Mackay's dismissal in December following a lengthy stand off with owner Vincent Tan.

'There are various teams at the moment out there who don't have a manager and like everyone else I just have to wait and see,' he told Skysports, who sponsored the event. 'But I'm looking to get back into management as quickly as possible.

'I really enjoyed testing myself against the best coaches in the world. We had some tough games and there's times during those games that you really see the difference in world class players. Other times we competed really well and we managed to beat the champions (Manchester City), which Cardiff should be proud of.'