Nearing the end of his four-game audition and having swept away the ‘Auld Enemy’ at Wembley Stadium, Gareth Southgate is seemingly poised to leave questions about his suitability to be England manager in his wake and claim the job permanently.

A trio of headers from Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill secured a 3-0 victory that kept England top of their World Cup qualifying group and added an air of inevitability to Southgate being promoted from his interim role.

The build-up to Friday’s Group F encounter was filled with reports that the English Football Association were already minded to hand him the job, barring an embarrassing defeat in the latest instalment of the oldest rivalry in international football.

Yet with that hurdle safely overcome and his rivals for the position having all seemingly dropped by the wayside, the route is now clear for the former Middlesbrough and England under-21 boss to be installed.

“I have loved it and enjoyed the role and responsibility, the challenge of every part of it,” Southgate, who was initially appointed for four games, told reporters following Friday’s victory.

“What I’m really pleased is that I was given the task of picking the job up in a very difficult situation for everybody here and I feel like we’ve prepared the team really well.

“The rest is out of my hands.  I get that that’s not quite so enjoyable if you don’t get the results.”

England are now unbeaten in 33 qualification matches, going back to October 2009, after the biggest win in this fixture since 1975.

And Southgate felt the win over Scotland will boost the fragile confidence of a squad, many of whom suffered the ignominy of defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.

“(It was) important for the players to come through that pressure environment and win this match,” he said.

“They’ve wanted to respond in the right way to what they’ve been through in the last few months and I think (beating Scotland) was a real step forward in their belief in what they’re capable of.”

Southgate’s elevation to odds-on favourite for the role is remarkable given he was not in the running when Sam Allardyce was appointed in July for his short-lived reign.

While his coronation is unlikely to generate much excitement among fans – he has only ever managed one club, Middlesbrough, who sacked him after three years following relegation – his stock at the FA is high.

He has become part of the furniture at English football’s governing body, having successfully led the under 21s and now steered the senior team through a period of turmoil in the wake of Allardyce’s departure after 67 days following a newspaper sting.

With rivals for the role seemingly thin on the ground, Southgate will feel justified in assuming he has done enough to see off the threat posed by Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe, former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini and Aston Villa’s Steve Bruce, who have all been touted as the possible alternatives.

Critics will say he has faced no serious test in his three matches to date, including one against Malta, but Southgate has steered a listing ship through choppy waters and is now warming to the task.

“It’s been a brilliant experience and I have taken so much from it, we have created a good environment,” he said.