Randy Lerner

The Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner said the club would reject any approach from Liverpool for their manager Martin O'Neill. "Liverpool are not taking Martin O'Neill away from Aston Villa as far as I'm concerned," Lerner told the Birmingham Mail.

The Northern Irishman has been the subject of speculation linking him to the Merseyside club, with manager Rafael Benítez's position uncertain following a season in which Liverpool finished seventh and missed out on the Champions League.

Lerner, who last week confirmed O'Neill would be staying at Villa Park, was full of praise for his manager, saying: "He's a complicated guy, he has led a long life, played for Brian Clough, was in Northern Ireland during a tumultuous period and it has influenced his personality.

"It's also why his tenacity and taste in how to get something done is what it is and that's the lens I look through. When you're with him and he gets into the mix, it's an education.

"Not many people come abroad and find themselves in a situation where you have a Martin O'Neill, who's going to sit there and say: 'That's the right player for that position', and then sit there and explain it to you. You get a lot of that."