Tony Mowbray laughed off speculation linking Jack Rodwell with a move to Serie B side Livorno but said transfer talk won’t prompt Rovers in to offering the utility man a new deal.

Rodwell has five months to run on the season-long contract he signed in August and has made 12 appearances in all competitions.

Rovers are relaxed over the 27-year-old’s future, and Mowbray admits a man of the match award in last weekend’s win over Ipswich won’t necessarily lead to an extended stay for the former England international.

However, the Ewood boss hasn’t ruled out an extended stay for the utility man further down the line.

“Jack Rodwell’s situation, I know his contract expires at the end of the season but I don’t sit here thinking ‘let’s go and offer him a 10-year deal’,” Mowbray said.

“I have every respect for Jack, he works hard every day and listens, brings the right values and cultures to our football club. And I hope that at the right time he’s telling me that he’s enjoying it and wants to stay, and then we will talk about his situation.

“At this moment, because he’s had one man of the match, he doesn’t just get a new five-year deal.

“I like his personality and when the time is right we will sit down and have a chat.”

Rodwell was linked in the Italian media with a move to Livorno, currently third bottom of Serie B.

Mowbray dismissed that as agent talk, as he did Lewis Travis reportedly being watched by a host of Premier League teams, speculation that emerged earlier this month.

Rodwell could keep his place in the heart of the Rovers defence for the third Championship game running as Mowbray’s men host Hull City tomorrow, with captain Charlie Mulgrew remaining a doubt.

On being told of Rodwell’s links with Livorno, Mowbray said: “I had a little giggle and moved on.

“I don’t follow the media, that’s not my life, mine is to win football matches.

“Lewis Travis plays a few games and then it’s in the papers that he’s going to the Premier League.

“Someone has a good game and then everyone wants him, that’s the world of agents we live in.

“There might be something in it, but what I do know is that agents are constantly trying to raise the profile of their footballers and make us think ‘oh, a Premier League club want to sign Trav, we better give him a 10-year contract on a million pounds a week’.

“I would like to think we manage our players okay. I like to talk to them, they know how much we like our players.”