ASTON Villa will step up their pursuit of Blackburn Rovers left back Stephen Warnock as they look set to hand the Ewood Park outfit a difficult dilemma.

The Midlanders have already had a bid in the region of £4million turned down for last season’s player of the season but are expected to return with a more tempting offer in the next few days.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill has targetted Warnock as the solution to his left back shortage all summer and will hope to complete all his transfer market business as close to the start of the Premier League season as possible.

Rovers would want nearer to £7.5m before considering selling the England international but Villa will hope an offer of nearer £6million will tempt the East Lancashire outfit into a sale.

While reluctant to lose Warnock, manager Sam Allardyce may believe it is necessary to help loosen the purse strings in his search for further re-inforcements - especially having signed left back Gael Givet from Marseille this summer.

Swedish under 21 international Martin Olsson has also been highly impressive in pre season, suggesting he could be a more than adequate reserve in that position.

Warnock himself may also believe a move to Villa Park could enhance his England aspirations, with a regular role as left back at Ewood far from guaranteed.

Having already brought in six new faces this summer, the sale of Warnock would help reduce Rovers’ high wage bill and improve Allardyce’s chances of bringing in extra signings.

The club have so far failed in their bid to drive down the wage bill to the levels they had targetted this summer, leaving the addition of targets such as Michel Salgado difficult.