BLACKBURN boss Graeme Souness has knocked back an offer from Stockport County for powerful striker Ben Burgess.

Hatters chief Carlton Palmer has made Burgess his top summer target and had hoped to lure the Republic of Ireland international to Edgeley Park in a £400,000 deal.

However, Souness has so far resisted County's overtures in order to allow Burgess to concentrate on helping Brentford gain promotion via the play-offs.

But the 21-year-old's future at Ewood will be reviewed in the summer which could spark a possible scramble for his services.

"Stockport County have been talking to us about Ben Burgess for a while but what we've said at the moment is we are not prepared to talk about a deal," said chief executive John Williams.

"They've made a number of enquiries but at this moment in time we are not prepared to sell. However, we will be looking again at the situation in the summer."

Burgess -- a product of the club's Academy -- has made a big impact at Brentford, where he has spent the season on loan, scoring 18 goals to fire the Bees into the play-offs.

But if Souness decides he's unlikely to break into the first team at Ewood next season then Rovers will try to cash-in in the summer in an attempt to avoid a repeat of what happened to Damien Johnson, who left for Birmingham in a cut-price deal recently because his contract was due to expire.