Aston Villa moved for Steven Davis

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish today revealed he made a transfer deadline day enquiry about ex-Villa midfielder Steven Davis which was rebuffed by Glasgow Rangers.

Davis was sold by Villa to Fulham for £4million in July 2007, but struggled to establish himself in the Premier League and the Northern Ireland international joined Rangers after an initial loan spell.

The 26-year-old only signed a new five-year contract with Rangers in July and McLeish was given short shrift over a move for Davis, so opted to bring Tottenham's Jermaine Jenas to the club on loan instead.

The Villa boss said: "Steven Davis is a Rangers player. We asked about him, but we know how much he means to Rangers and we never pursued it because they made it clear he wasn't for sale.

"The problem for the Scottish league is that, as soon as a good player comes to the fore, he invariably gets snapped up by a team down south.

"We're now seeing more Scottish players in England than we have in a very long time and that augurs well for the national team manager."