Soccer:West Brom manager Steve Clarke has insisted striker Shane Long is not for sale. But Clarke admitted that Albion have rejected a bid — believed to be from Blackburn — for another Republic of Ireland international forward in Simon Cox.

Long has been the subject of speculation linking him with a move back to his former club Reading. But Clarke said: “There has been nothing regarding Shaun. There have been no bids and he is not for sale.

“His future is with us 100 per cent.”

Cox has struggled to win a first team place at The Hawthorns in the face of competition from the likes of Long, Peter Odemwingie and Marc-Antoine Fortune. He was left out of the squad for yesterday’s friendly at Barnsley.

Clarke said: “A club has put a bid in for him. It wasn’t accepted but Simon didn’t feel he was quite right to play.”