Leicester City manager Steve Cooper says he believes in Britain’s culture and coaching pathway following Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England head coach.

German Tuchel, 51, was confirmed as the next Three Lions boss on Wednesday and will become only the third non-British manager of the England men’s team when he starts in the role on 1 January.

English candidates were among “approximately 10” people interviewed for the job, says the Football Association, but former England defender Gary Neville called the decision “damaging” for homegrown coaches.

“Hopefully over the course of time British coaching will continue to improve and we will be right up there with the world’s best,” said Welshman Cooper, who led England to victory at the Under-17 World Cup in 2017.

“In the meantime any opportunity we are given we have to take them and do a good job. Until we do that on a regular basis maybe we shouldn’t say so much.

“I really believe in British culture, I believe in the coaching education pathway as well.”

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said on Wednesday England are “not in that place” to have several homegrown managers in contention for the national team job but insisted the national coaching system is a success.

“I think any federation in the world that is looking to hire a senior manager, clearly you would love to have five to 10 domestic candidates who are coaching clubs in your domestic league, challenging and winning honours in your domestic league and European football,” said Bullingham.

“We are not quite in that place at the moment.”