Stoke have warned Sunderland they "are not interested" in selling Danny Higginbotham after the Black Cats enquired about the City skipper.

The Potters have told the Wearsiders not to bother making a bid for Higginbotham, insisting they have no intentions of selling their best players.

City's chief executive Tony Scholes confirmed his club had received an approach from the Wearsiders for the 28-year-old, but revealed it was quickly rebuffed.

He told the Stoke Sentinel: "I can confirm we received an enquiry from Sunderland a few weeks ago and we made it clear that we were not interested in selling Danny Higginbotham.

"Because of that, the conversation did not proceed with any kind of offer.

"We are keen to build a team capable of promotion to the Premier League, and Danny is a big part of that."