Taylor is appointed England manager. (For now)

Peter Taylor, who walked out of the Football Association after being relieved of his post as England's under-21 coach 16 months ago, was welcomed back yesterday as caretaker manager of the senior national side.

Peter Taylor, who walked out of the Football Association after being relieved of his post as England's under-21 coach 16 months ago, was welcomed back yesterday as caretaker manager of the senior national side.

Taylor, 47, who will continue as the full-time manager of Leicester City, will take temporary charge of England for their next match, in Italy on 15 November, while his employers maintain their search for a permanent successor to Kevin Keegan.

Adam Crozier, the FA's chief executive, said yesterday a three-man shortlist had been identified and would be "sounded out" in the next two weeks. They are believed to be Arsÿne Wenger, the French-born coach of Arsenal, Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish coach of Italian champions Lazio, and the Englishman Roy Hodgson, currently coaching FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

None of these men is likely to be immediately available, which means Taylor, who is to be joined by Steve McClaren, Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United, could remain in the post until the summer. Taylor, who played four times as a winger for England in the mid-Seventies, was originally brought into the England set-up four years ago by Glenn Hoddle, a former team-mate at Tottenham Hotspur. At the time he was coaching Dover, a non-League club, and his appointment was, he said yesterday, "very brave". He added: "I owe Glenn a lot."

The FA turned to Taylor after Newcastle United refused them permission to speak to their manager, the former national coach Bobby Robson.