Ian Holloway has confirmed his interest in the vacant manager's positition at Hearts. The former Queens Park Rangers and Plymouth Argyle coach has been out of work since he was sacked by Leicester City at the end of last season following their relegation to League One.

Hearts have been searching for a new manager following the departure of caretaker Stephen Frail. After failing to lure Mark McGhee away from Motherwell, the Edinburgh club are now looking outside Scotland for a replacement, with 45-year-old Holloway viewed as a front-runner.

"I believe they want to talk to me but they have concerns due to the fact I don't have my (Uefa) pro-licence," Holloway said. "I don't know if that is going to cause a problem but I am working towards it and my assistant Tim Breacker already has his full Uefa pro-licence, so hopefully that will overcome the problem. We will have to see what happens but I am definitely interested in the job."

Since Vladimir Romanov bought a majority stake in Hearts in 2005, John Robertson, George Burley, Valdas Ivanauskas and Graham Rix have all come and gone as manager amid reports of dressing-room unease.

Frail was put in temporary charge at the start of last season, but Hearts struggled and upon finishing eighth behind rivals Hibernian, Romanov made it clear that Frail no longer had a place at the club.

Stuart McCall, the Bradford City manager and former Rangers and Scotland midfielder, has dismissed speculation linking him to the Hearts job, saying: "I know nothing about it. It sounds like a load of tosh. I've not heard anything at all and I don't expect to. I'm happy with the job I want to do here."