Blackburn Rovers and former MK Dons assistant manager Ray Mathias has denied that any deal has yet been done for want-away Dons skipper Keith Andrews.

Paul Ince's number two admitted the Irishman was a player they both admire, but refused to acknowledge that a deal was imminent.

He told the Citizen: "Nothing has been said or done. It's all speculation at this point.

"I can't speak for the gaffer, but Keith was a very good player for us."

But Mathias is never one to give much away and when asked if he felt the midfielder could make the step up to the Premier League he was as coy as ever, saying: "Well that's the question which is hard to answer.
"As I have said, nothing has been done and it is down to the chairman and the gaffer."

Blackburn boss Paul Ince appears to be searching for a defensive midfielder and despite Andrews not quite fitting that role, sources close to the club have hinted that the move is back on.

It is understood the two clubs are still trying to agree a fee that would include a lump sum up front and add-ons, though the £800,000 reported in add-ons that Dons want is thought to be too much for Rovers who would like to pay around £1m in total.

That is considerably less than the £2m Dons chairman Pete Winkelman had been asking for.

But with the club lacking cash after their deal with Marks and Spencer fell through, it could still prove vital.

Meanwhile Dons manager Roberto Di Matteo has been playing his cards very close to his chest.

The Italian refused to give much away on Saturday after club captain Andrews' shock absence from the squad which beat Northampton 1-0, simply saying the situation "would be dealt with internally."

And he didn't reveal a great deal more this week when he said: "We will just have to keep monitoring the situation.

"We are not releasing any public information at the moment so there is nothing more I can say on it."

"But he's still a member of our club so I see no reason why he shouldn't be out training with the rest of them.

"And as far as the weekend goes I have no idea if he will feature against Huddersfield or not."

The situation does finally seem to be annoying the Italian though, who is keen to add the finishing touches to his squad as soon as possible.
And he admitted that he can't yet guarantee keeping hold of all the club's better players.

"Every day there seem to be moves and changes so it is difficult to actually know who is going to be in your team," he said.

"They are here now but you just don't know about tomorrow, so until the transfer window closes you can't be sure who is going to stay here and who is going to leave.

"I have enjoyed the job so far, it has been very exciting, but we just need to settle down with our team as until that happens we just can't move forward and develop."

But Di Matteo planned for the departure of Andrews by making his fourth signing yesterday with the capture of exciting French youngster Flavien Belson who joined the club on a year-long loan deal from French second division side FC Metz.

And Di Matteo is still looking to add to his squad with the transfer window set to close on September 1.