Alex McLeish in pole position to lure Kris Boyd away from Ibrox

BIRMINGHAM CITY appear to have moved into pole position to sign Kris Boyd, should the Rangers striker turn down the Ibrox club's offer of a new contract, after Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill distanced himself from any imminent move for the player.

• Kris Boyd has been made offers by English clubs according to his Rangers manager Walter Smith

Despite Boyd's presence at Villa Park for the Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday night and claims from sources close to him that he had held talks earlier in the day regarding a possible pre-contract deal with the club, O'Neill denied being close to signing the 26-year-old.

"I don't know if players are at football games," said the former Celtic manager, "but the other part I can definitely comment on. I was quite surprised to see the story that he (Boyd] is signing for us. Of course, I know the player very well indeed. He was in Scotland when I was in charge of Celtic. But there isn't any truth in it."

O'Neill's local rival Alex McLeish, however, did reaffirm his interest in Boyd yesterday. The Birmingham City manager, who failed to persuade Boyd to move south last year, would like to be reunited with the player he signed from Kilmarnock for 400,000 when he was in charge of Rangers.

"Boyd is out of contract in the summer and it is possible we could do some business there," said McLeish. "But I am not committing myself. I can't confirm we have made any offer for anyone. It is not fair to talk about players at other clubs."

Rangers manager Walter Smith was more forthcoming about interest in Boyd from English clubs, stating it is "fact" that his top scorer has been made offers as he exercises his right to speak to potential suitors.

But Smith remains hopeful Boyd, who is sidelined until next month following a double hernia operation, will resist more lucrative offers from the English Premier League and accept the new three-year deal on the table from Rangers. "There is no deadline on that offer and we will just wait on Kris coming back to us," said Smith. "There is no great pressure on him. It depends what offers people make him. We can only make him our offer which he is currently considering.

"We have indicated we want to keep him and are doing our best to do so. One thing I do know, regardless of what happens, is that if Kris is here until the end of the season, he will continue to give everything for Rangers. I am certain of that and I hope we can convince him to stay."

Boyd is unlikely to be short of advice as he ponders arguably the biggest decision of his career and his team-mate Steven Davis has warned him to be fully aware of what he would be leaving behind if he chose to move on.

The Northern Ireland international midfielder experienced life in the English top flight with Aston Villa and Fulham before his move to Ibrox. While he fully appreciates the lure of the EPL, however, Davis insists Boyd may find personal fulfilment elusive if he leaves Rangers.

"The Premier League is the best league in the world in my opinion," said Davis. "The quality down there is unbelievable, it gets incredible coverage and it's a great stage to play on.

"But, at the same time, Kris is in a similar situation to me. He grew up as a Rangers supporter and is now playing for the club. That's a big thing. It is also the case here that you get the chance to win trophies every season. That's also a big factor.

"It's a possibility he could go to Villa or wherever and might not win another trophy. That's the situation you find yourself in down there. I had a spell at Villa, when I broke into the side and did well, that saw me playing almost every week and enjoying it.

"But things changed with a new manager and I had to move on. Since I came to Rangers, I've had the chance to win the league, play in a Uefa Cup final, play in the Champions League and win domestic cup finals. You cannot buy things like that.

"Rangers is a massive club, no doubt about it, and I just hope Kris decides to stay here. Everyone knows how important he is for us. His goals-per-game ratio is unbelievable and sometimes we struggle to score when he doesn't play.

"He is a major player for us and hopefully he can withstand the temptation of going down the road. I know he enjoys it at Rangers and I'd like to think he will stay with the club he supports."