Aston Villa: Why Martin O'Neill does not regret selling Gary Cahill
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has no regrets about losing the services of central defender Gary Cahill to Bolton, but insists he was not "kicked out of the door" by the Midlands club.
Cahill will return to Villa Park with his current club for tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash following his £5million move to the Trotters during the January 2008 transfer window.
O'Neill was unable to guarantee Cahill regular first-team football with skipper Martin Laursen, Curtis Davies and Olof Mellberg all vying for a senior spot.
Cahill, a product of the Villa academy, has flourished at the Reebok Stadium and forced his way into the England squad on several occasions because of injuries after being on the standby list.
O'Neill said: "Have I any regrets that Cahill left? No.
"He wasn't exactly kicked out of the door, but Gary got to the stage where he wanted to play first-team football.
"He felt he wasn't going to get that in the coming weeks or months on a regular basis at Villa and, if we couldn't keep him, then we don't really want to stop people from making progress.
"Bolton, Birmingham and Sheffield United were interested.
"Bolton paid us £5million for the lad plus the sell-on fee and we were happy to do it.
"He was happy to go, we are happy and we still remain happy with the situation.
"Gary wanted to play regularly somewhere and Bolton gave him that chance."
