Aston Villa striker John Carew

Martin O'Neill has told Mick McCarthy that Aston Villa defender Zat Knight is not for sale.

Wolves boss McCarthy has failed with an ambitious swoop to bring Knight, 29, to Molineux this summer.

McCarthy is desperate to bring in experienced Premier League defenders after securing promotion from the Championship and had asked Villa manager O’Neill about Knight’s availability.

But O’Neill insists the ex-Fulham defender is going nowhere as he is desperately short of centre-halves after Martin Laursen’s retirement.