Hughes vows to keep Bentley

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes has reiterated his stance that David Bentley will not be leaving the club in the summer.

The England international was linked with a £15million move to Tottenham on Friday, having previously attracted the interest of Liverpool, among others.

And although Hughes cannot prevent the speculation, he has stressed Bentley remains an integral part of the squad he is trying to build at Ewood Park.

Earlier this season Rovers offered the player a new contract to recognise his progress in the last 12 months but, as yet, it remains unsigned.

However, Hughes is confident the 23-year-old will remain with the club.

"The situation was, we offered a new contract to David to reward him for the exceptional season he has had," said Hughes.

No problem

"If he makes a decision not to sign it is not a problem as he has three years on his current contract.

"He stays here for the foreseeable future and we will continue to build the squad around the good players we have.

"There has been a suggestion we put a price on our players' values - we would never do that."

Turning his attentions to claims that the Premier League is becoming predictable, Hughes believes that notion could not be any further from the truth.

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan suggested the top flight was becoming boring and that is was impossible to break into the top four, but Hughes insists his side will continue to fight to break the monopoly.

"I think he felt the top four are nailed on to win the Premier League, which in truth they are given the resources they have," added Hughes.

Ambitions

"But that does not stop the rest of us trying to stop that monopoly. If we pack it in that is the time everyone needs to close the door and go home because you have to have ambitions and desires to break the status quo.

"We keep going. We haven't got anything like the resources of the top four or even Newcastle but we will keep trying to get the best out of the players we have and we go very close.

"I think the point that has been made that to make that extra step to have a sustained shot at the top four you have to have a significant amount of money and from our point of view we are not in that position and are unlikely to be for a number of years."