Kean confident of retaining Superman

Rovers manager Steve Kean has expressed his confidence of holding onto prize asset Phil ‘Superman’ Jones past the end of the season.

Jones has been subject of a lot of speculation since he burst onto the scene at the back end of last season but so far Rovers have kept hold of him as he has been made into a key first team player.

But with Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs all reportedly monitoring the lad Rovers will face a battle to keep hold of the England Under 21 star – a battle Kean feels he can win.

But even if they do lose Jones the club in question would have to part some serious moolah.

Kean told Sky Sports – ‘It’s going to be difficult for Phil but we are confident, this is where he started, where he got his first chance and we believe we have rewarded him very well.

‘He wants to play as high up the league as everybody else does and he’s a star in the making.

‘He’s on a five-year contract and if we can sit down at the end of the season and discuss what players we are trying to bring into the club then hopefully we can keep the big hitters away.’

‘We want to sit down with all the younger ones and explain what we want to do as a club over the next two, three or four years and if they stay with us they are going to part of that story.

‘If they decide they want to move on then the clubs concerned will have to pay top dollar because they are under very, very long contracts and the fees we would be demanding would be massive.’