The new mother vying for the MOTD hot seat: Sports reporter Kelly Somers, 33, who has welcomed first child with fiance and won rave reviews for work at Euros, goes head-to-head with Mark Chapman for j

As the race to find the new Gary Lineker for Match of the Day heats up, bookies favourite Mark Chapman has reportedly sparked a row by refusing to share the job with broadcast veteran and new mother Kelly Somers.

Chapman, 51, is said to have turned down sharing the flagship presenting role with the 33-year-old, who has been seen across the BBC , Channel 4 and even Amazon Prime's football coverage - potentially opening the way for her to do it on her own.

Somers had been among the frontrunners to replace Lineker, 63, after the BBC formally confirmed he would leave MOTD at the end of the current season - but Chapman has led the race thus far with short odds of 6/4.

That could now change after Chapman's reported refusal to share duties - a new direction for the programme spearheaded by new BBC Sport director Alex Kay-Jelski - with the female presenter, who had her first child just under a year ago.

Reports suggested he had hoped to take over the role full time - and roundly rejected the offer to split the job.

The row could still see Somers split the role with another presenter if Chapman does not agree to the deal as reported - with several other well-established sports broadcasters in the running for the job.

She shared a cryptic Instagram post yesterday dressed in a bright trouser suit captioned: 'Welllllll out of my comfort zone today... coming soon!'. The caption ended with a grimacing emoji.

Somers has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame since embarking on a professional media career out of university, joining AFC Bournemouth's media team for four years.

Somers then joined Premier League Productions before picking up work with Channel 4, Amazon and talkSPORT before becoming the sixth woman to present Match of the Day on the BBC.

Most recently, she won over fans after taking centre stage for the BBC's Euros coverage during the summer, following the England team throughout the tournament all the way up to the heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the final to Spain .

And last year, she shared photos of her newborn girl in November, following well publicised fertility struggles.

Posting to Instagram, she had written: 'Weekends look a little different these days... feeling so, so lucky. Be back soon.' She signed off the post with two emojis: a baby and a white heart.

She and fiancé Max had been trying for a baby for some time amid her struggles with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome - both presenting terrifying challenges to her dream of becoming a mother.

In the run up to giving birth last year, she told OK!: 'I never, ever thought I would get to be a mum. I've grown up thinking it wouldn't be possible. I've had so many problems. so I just feel incredibly fortunate.

'At my age, everyone knows someone who's going through fertility problems or who has a bad story, and I always thought I was going to be one of those stories.'

Last night, The Sun reported Match of the Day 2 host Chapman hoped to become full-time host in the same vein as Lineker.

A source told the paper: 'As soon as Gary's deal was done, Alex made it clear he wanted Mark and Kelly to replace him. It would effectively be a job share and they would rotate hosting duties between them.

'Mark has made it clear within the team at MOTD that this isn't something he would want to do. It's back to the drawing board and negotiations are ongoing.'

Suggestions of a revolving host role emerged yesterday in the hours after Lineker's departure from Match of the Day was formally confirmed.

The 63-year-old is thought to have volunteered to take a mammoth pay cut of £350,000-a-year from his current £1.35million salary, in order to stay in the role.

However, new boss Kay-Jelski - described by industry insiders as the 'hatchet man' inclined to freshen up the show - reportedly declined Lineker's offer.

Other frontrunners in the race include Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates, daughter of Scottish football legend Kenny Dalglish.

Broadcasters Eilidh Barbour, Kelly Somers and Laura Woods are also top picks - as is former Lioness Alex Scott , alongside ex-Manchester City right back Micah Richards .

However, former BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker - who presented Football Focus for 12 years before being replaced by Alex Scott - Sky's David Jones and Manish Bhasin also have good odds, according to Ladbrokes.

A spokesperson told MailOnline today: 'Future plans for MotD will be announced in due course.'

MailOnline has contacted Chapman and Somers' representatives for further comment.

Pundits have been scathing of the idea of presenters sharing the role, with Rangers legend Ally McCoist telling talkSPORT Breakfast: 'I don't know about the idea of a job share'.

Former Watford player Troy Deeney was quick to agree and said: 'Yeah, I was about to say the same thing. I feel it's an iconic show and you're used to seeing one person.

'I want to go and see one person, whether that be Chappers or that be Kelly. I know both of them, great, great people.

'So whoever you choose to go with, I think trying to job share it is a cop out, in my opinion.

'Make a decision, go with somebody and then we all know that's where the show's going, that's who it is.'

Lineker currently also presents a hugely successful podcast alongside fellow Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, and will continue to do so once he departs the programme at the end of the season .

The show, The Rest Is Football, is set to appear on audio platform BBC Sounds in a syndication deal, in a win for Lineker's Goalhanger production firm.