Aston Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov is hopeful that the club can retain the services of Stewart Downing ahead of the new season.
The Bulgarian International insists manager Alex McLeish should not give in to Liverpool, who have reportedly already had �12million and �15million bids turned down by Villa.
Petrov also wants the club to remain competitive in the Premier League and he has faith in McLeish to ensure they keep Downing, following the departure of Ashley Young to Manchester United.
Exceptional
He said: "We'd love to keep Stewart. He was exceptional last season and is a great talent.
"That's why he was voted the fans' player of the year and players' player of the year and he deserved both awards. He works really hard and, like I said, he's an exceptional talent.
"But the chairman (Randy Lerner) is the man who knows what is right and wrong for the club and he will always do what is right for the club and so will the manager."
Strong
The 32-year-old believes the chairman appointed the right man in McLeish as he insists the Scot will bring a 'fighting spirit' to the club.
Petrov added: "Ashley Young has moved on, so have Gareth Barry and James Milner in recent seasons but as a club we will keep fighting.
"That's why the chairman brought in a manager with a fighting spirit.
"He will make sure we have a strong, competitive team that will be able to compete against other big teams in the Premier League. That's why he's been appointed.
"It's not nice to see good players go but that's the way football goes.
"We're not going to stop fighting, we're professionals and we're going to try to win as many games as we can to climb the table as high as we can."
Source: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7029759,00.html
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