Ince accepts Bentley may go
15 Jul 2008 - 07:44:29
Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Ince has vowed to keep David Bentley at Ewood Park even though Aston Villa have joined the race to sign the England international midfielder.
The 23-year-old former Arsenal trainee has also been linked with Tottenham and Liverpool this summer, but Ince is ready to fight to keep all his big-name stars.
Speaking after his side's 2-1 friendly win at Macclesfield Town, Ince said: "I'm still loving every minute of my new job and, no, I don't want to lose my best players.
"The David Bentley situation won't go away, only time will tell whether he's here in August.
"He'd have played at Macclesfield if he hadn't been injured, but I know that in football players come and players go.
"We've had an offer from Aston Villa, but I don't want him to go.
"He's injured and he'll have a couple of days off and I hope to take him to Germany on Wednesday for our training trip.
"When I came to Blackburn I said I wanted to keep my best players, and Brad Friedel comes into that category, he's one of the best keepers in the Premier League.
"There's no interest from me in Paul Robinson. As far as I'm concerned I want to keep Brad. I don't want to sell Brad, so why should I want Paul Robinson?"