Westley plans to keep Coutts

Preston boss Graham Westley insists he has no plans to sell midfielder Paul Coutts this month as he looks to retain his squad.

Reports emerged over the weekend that Coutts, who skippered North End in their first game under Westley against Leyton Orient on Saturday, had submitted a transfer request. Westley confirmed the 23-year-old sought talks with himself and chairman Peter Ridsdale but remains confident Coutts will still be at Deepdale when the transfer window closes. "Paul spoke to the chairman on Friday and I had a chat with Paul on Friday night," said Westley. "He's wearing the captain's armband, he wore it well at the weekend and he'll wear it again against Notts County. "A player like Paul wants to know where the club's going, he wants to understand what the ambitions are, he wants to understand what the future looks like. I'm sure that once he gets to know me, once he gets to know the chairman and once he understands where the club's going he will dedicate his efforts to giving this club what it wants, which is consistent winning football. "You can never, as a manager say that any player is going to be at your football club at the end of any transfer window because somebody could come along and offer £10 million for him. But I've got no intention of selling Paul and I've got every expectation that he will be at the football club."