Michael Appleton: 'Liverpool Thomas Ince bid not enough'

Blackpool manager Michael Appleton has insisted that his side are under no pressure to sell Thomas Ince to Liverpool.

The Reds have been known admirers of the 20-year-old for a while, and reportedly had a recent bid for the player rejected by the Championship outfit.

Some reports claim that the Seasiders would need to cash in on the midfielder in order to raise transfer funds, but Appleton is adamant that is not the case.

When asked if Blackpool would have to sell Ince, Appleton said: "I don't think so. The chairman has not made that assumption on it at all.

"Liverpool made an offer two weeks ago to [chairman] Karl Oyston. We haven't received anything since. It was pretty much a case of 'that's not enough, you'll have to do better'.

"From my point of view I'd love to keep Tom but the biggest thing is whether I'm able to add to what we've got. We need reinforcements big time and I will only be happy if we bring four or five new faces in by the end of January. If we don't, I'll be disappointed."

Thomas is the son of former England captain Paul Ince.