Cruz: Staying

It annoys me because I think there are clubs out there who are trying to unsettle my players and it's not something that I'm happy about. Paul Ince.

Related links

Teams

• Blackburn Rovers
• Manchester City

Players

• Robbie Fowler
• Stephen Warnock
• More PlayersRoque Santa Cruz

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Transfer Centre
• Play Fantasy Football

Blackburn manager Paul Ince has moved to reiterate that key striker Roque Santa Cruz is not going anywhere.

Rovers rejected a bid for the frontman from Manchester City, now managed by former Ewood Park boss Mark Hughes, on Thursday.

Ince, who makes his bow as a Premier League manager at Everton on Saturday, has quashed rumours that any of his players are about to be sold and believes that some rivals are purposefully trying to unrest his squad.

"I've sat down with Roque and we've had a chat and the lad is happy to stay at Blackburn Rovers," Ince told Sky Sports News.

Unsettle

"It annoys me because I think there are clubs out there who are trying to unsettle my players and it's not something that I'm happy about.

"The likes of Roque and Steve Warnock, they're all staying, I don't want to sell my best players unless I want to sell them and Roque and Steve are two, definitely two players, that I don't want to sell and they definitely won't be sold.

"They're staying, as far as I'm concerned that's the end of the story."

Fowler

Ince also revealed that the club are close to sealing a deal with former England and Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler.

Fowler has been training with Rovers since mid-July and has impressed the manager but has not yet penned any deal.

Ince said: "Robbie's done well. His last game was October last year, that's a long time ago. He's trained ever so well and he's getting his sharpness back.

"Some of the things he's done in the last three or four days in training have been mind-blowing. He's still got it and he could be a very good asset for us if we decide to take him on.

"I'll sit down with Robbie next week and the chairman and we'll make a decision from there."