Eriksson has been rocked by the departure of assistant Steve McClaren

"He made it clear to me that he was carrying on and that events at the FA were not an issue with him.

"He has given me assurances that he wants to continue as coach to the England team, and we have given him assurances that we want him to continue.

"Sven raised with me the issue of a new assistant coach - he said he wanted to think about whether he should go for another part-time coach or a full-time appointment."

Eriksson has said he is concentrating on picking a squad for England's get-together later this month and not the continued speculation surrounding his future.

The FA made a statement on Friday rejecting claims that Eriksson was meeting Thompson for crisis talks.

But Eriksson's assistant Tord Grip refused to rule out the possibility of the former Lazio coach quitting.

Asked to end speculation that Eriksson is on the brink of resignation, he would only say: "We want to wait and see what happens at the FA."

Power struggle

Eriksson is believed to fear that the interests of his England team will become secondary to those of the country's leading clubs.

Even if Eriksson receives guarantees from Thompson, they are likely to be tested almost immediately when he hosts a two-day squad get-together on 18 November.

Players' wives have also been invited and some Premiership clubs are already thought to be questioning the value of the exercise.

"I'm not sure anything will be definite before we meet the players," said Grip.

Leading bookmakers have stopped taking bets on Eriksson leaving.