Martin O'Neill says Aston Villa are no longer interested in signing Blackburn winger David Bentley.
Villa had been keen to sign the England international, only for their Premier League rivals to spurn an offer.
Rovers boss Paul Ince revealed at the start of the week that Villa had registered an interest in the former Arsenal winger.
And O'Neill has now confirmed he had tried to sign Bentley, but has now switched his sights elsewhere after failing to agree a deal.
"I wouldn't normally respond to individual links, but as Paul Ince rightly said, we did make a bid for David Bentley," O'Neill told the club's official website.
"That was some time ago and Blackburn rejected the bid - as is their prerogative.
"We do not intend revisiting that and we have switched our attentions to other transfer targets."
Blackburn have rejected offers from two clubs for Bentley, with Tottenham and Manchester City also having been linked with bids.
