Tim Sherwood has admitted that his future as Tottenham Hotspur manager is not secure even if he guides them to Champions League qualification this season.

The 43-year-old was promoted to the position of head coach following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas in December, signing an 18-month deal at White Hart Lane.

However, reports claim that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is still pursuing Louis van Gaal and Frank de Boer, who were both approached before Sherwood's appointment, as possible summer replacements.

While Sherwood's contract runs past the end of the current campaign, he concedes that he is an unproven managerial entity and must show that he is worthy of Tottenham's faith in the long run.

"It's up to me to prove that I can be," he told Sky Sports News. "I'm untried at management and you have to earn the right. t's like a player going in and playing a couple of games well, it doesn't mean that he's made it. He has to keep his feet on the floor and realise he has to do it on a consistent basis, and that's what I need to do.

"Obviously, the objective of the club is to finish in the top four and we know how difficult that will be. If we reach that or if we don't, it's up to other people to decide if I've done my job well enough to deserve the chance to have another crack at it next season.

"It's an honour to manage this football club and it's a massive job but I was enjoying my role here anyway, so I wasn't on my hands and knees begging for the opportunity. If I do well enough then I'll have it for the long term but we know full well that, if I don't, I'll be looking for a job elsewhere. It's a tough job but I was under no illusions, no one said it was going to be easy. In the past, some managers have done very good jobs here, and in the end it wasn't good enough."

Sherwood has won five, drawn two and lost one of his opening eight Premier League games in charge.