Norwich City manager Chris Hughton has insisted that playmaker Wes Hoolahan is "very much" a part of the Canaries squad.
The Premier League club were forced to deny that the 31-year-old had lodged a transfer request amid reported interest from Aston Villa.
"Wes is a player who is first and foremost under contract," Sky Sports News quotes Hughton as saying. "Apart from the recent FA Cup tie, he had played in the last two Premier League games. He is as important as every other player in this squad.
"What we are trying to achieve here is to be as good a team as we can in the best league position we can, for that to be the case, we want to have as strong a squad as we can. At this particular moment, Wes is very much a part of the squad."
Hoolahan joined the club from Blackpool in 2008.
