ASTON Villa have told Liverpool to stop wasting their time on Stewart Downing – as Alex McLeish focuses instead on raiding Blues this weekend for his potential new assistant boss Peter Grant.

It has emerged that Kenny Dalglish’s side originally had a £12 million offer for Downing rejected out of hand three weeks ago before returning with an improved £15 million bid on Tuesday.

Villa are insulted by the Anfield giants’ valuations of Downing, particularly the opening gambit which was the amount Villa originally paid for the winger when he was injured two years ago.

A mooted third bid predicted to be around the £18 million mark has not materialised and the claret and blues are keen for Liverpool to now divert their attentions away from the England wideman.

Randy Lerner, Paul Faulkner and McLeish are adamant there is no need or desire to sell the former Middlesbrough favourite who still has two years on his contract despite rejecting a new deal.

Even if Downing attempts to force the issue with a formal transfer request Villa are prepared to stick to their stance and keep him against his wishes, unless Kenny Dalglish returns with an irresistible offer, possibly as high as £25 million.

Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov revealed Downing displayed a professional attitude when the first team squad returned to pre-season training and met the new manager at Bodymoor Heath yesterday.

“We’d love to keep Stewart, he had an exceptional season last season and he’s a great talent,” said Petrov.

“But the chairman is the man who knows what is right and wrong for the club and he will always do what is right.

“In the first season here Stewart he was injured and didn’t have a full pre-season. When he did get a full pre-season last season he was flying from the start to the end. That’s why he was voted player of the year.