Md Dismisses Claims

Managing Director Paul Aldridge has dismissed as "idle press speculation" a report that the club are considering selling Fredi Kanoute and Don Hutchison in order to fund a bid for Bolton striker Michael Ricketts.

"It is barely worth commenting on because there is no truth in it whatsoever," he says.

"All I will say is that it is idle press speculation and we are just getting on with things."

The report claims that Jermain Defoe has been 'more productive' than Fredi this season, but Glenn Roeder says: "He has an awesome physical presence that no one else at the club, and not many in the league, can provide."

If Fredi scores at Villa Park on Saturday his ratio of goals will be exactly one every two games this season - not bad for a player who has been forced to battle through hamstring problems for much of this campaign.