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Mowbray not worried by Curtis rumours

Last updated : 09 January 2007 By Danny Deeming
Tony Mowbray is convinced in-demand skipper Curtis Davies will not be affected by the constant speculation over his future. Mowbray wants to keep the England Under-21 defender as one of the lynchpins of his side and rejected a £5million bid from Tottenham last week. The former Luton player - a target for Arsenal in the transfer window 12 months ago - has also been watched on several occasions by Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill. But Mowbray, who sold midfielder Nigel Quashie to West Ham for £1.75million on Monday, is convinced Davies will keep his mind focused on his performances for Albion and he was outstanding in the FA Cup win over Leeds at the weekend.
The former Hibs boss said: ""Players have to get on with the job - whatever the speculation. It can be disruptive. The speculation has come at a bad time for us but we got a good result against Leeds United on the back of the speculation. We have got to hope that this will remain the case until the end of January, because I am sure there is more speculation to come. Speculation affects different people in different ways. We had a case at the weekend when we didn't play Nathan Ellington because of that, But I think Curtis Davies will have no problem handling the speculation regarding himself. I have no fears about that. His performance was outstanding at the weekend and, if that was because of the speculation, then please keep the speculation coming! If his performance level remains as high as it was at the weekend, then we will all be happy. The bottom line is we hope he will still be here at the end of the transfer window."