Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov would like to see Kevin MacDonald given the manager's job fulltime.
Petrov, who scored Villa's second goal in a commanding opening-day performance against West Ham United, revealed the players are right behind him.
"The way he prepared us for the game showed us that he wants to hold onto that job - and I hope we can help him take that job," said Petrov.
"We are behind him. He has been at the club a long time, done a great job with the youth and he has the opportunity to do it now.
"I said to him before the game, 'you try and hold onto that job'.
"He knows it's hard. Expectations are high and people want success and they talk about big names - but he has the opportunity and he is really determined to stay there.
"We played really well, we showed what we can do and if it keeps going that way there is no reason why he cannot make his own name."
