Owls Target 'Not For Sale'

Wednesday target Kenwyne Jones is not for sale according to Southampton boss George Burley - who issued a 'hands off' warning on his Trinidad and Tobago striker today.

Owls boss Brian Laws has been linked with a number of strikers as he looks to bolster his squad for the forthcoming campaign and has named Jones alongside Billy Sharp as a transfer target he has been allowed to 'pursue further.

And the links with the Saints hitman went down well with the Hillsborough faithful, who enjoyed watching him net seven goals in as many games to help Wednesday to promotion from League One during a loan spell in the 2004-05 campaign.

But it now looks as though Laws will have to turn his attentions elsewhere to add firepower in attack after Saints boss Burley revealed Jones is going nowhere.

'Wednesday have not made a bid,' Burley told the official Southampton website.

'They spoke to us ages ago just to ask about availability which happens a lot at this time of year.

'There has been a bit of speculation, for whatever reason. It has happened with one or two players over the summer and that is part of football. But Kenwyne Jones is not for sale - it is as simple as that. He is a very key member of the squad for next season. He is young and full of potential and has all the attributes to become a top-class striker.'

The 22-year-old was a key part of the Saints side that just missed out in the Championship play-offs last season, and has already been referred to by Burley as the Didier Drogba of the Championship.

He netted sixteen goals for the St Marys Stadium club last term to take his overall tally to 18 in 43 starts, as well as seven in as many games in a loan spell at Hillsborough and three in 13 for Stoke City during his loan spell in February 2005.

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