Mick McCarthy has insisted that Ciaron Brown will remain at Cardiff City having turned down an offer from Middlesbrough.

Brown was sent on loan in the first half of last season, moving to Scotland and linking up with Livingston before making 34 appearances for the club.

The defender was then recalled by Cardiff after producing a series of impressive displays, establishing himself as a key player under McCarthy.

Brown started City's final 11 games of the Championship campaign, operating as a left-sided centre-half as well as at wing-back as the Bluebirds finished eighth in the league.

This summer, the Northern Ireland international has been attracting interest from Middlesbrough as Neil Warnock looks to bolster his defensive ranks.

Speaking in this afternoon's press conference, though, McCarthy insisted that Brown would not be leaving Cardiff this summer, having already turned down an offer for the 23-year-old from the Teessiders.

He said, via Wales Online: "I turned the offer down [from Middlesbrough]. The upshot of that is that Ciaron will stay here. I certainly don’t want him to go anywhere. I’ve offered him a deal, I’d like him to stay.

"Always, when someone else comes in [to sign them], it’s always quite exciting as a player, the chance of a move. But there has got to be a right value to it as well and it wasn’t."

City begin their Championship campaign with a home clash against Barnsley this weekend, as the Bluebirds look to get off to the ideal start.

The Verdict

McCarthy and Warnock are two stubborn, experienced characters who say things as they are, and it seems the latter will be left frustrated here.

If McCarthy can give Brown assurances over regular game time, especially following Joe Bennett's departure, then there should be no reason why he won't sign a new deal.

It must give the player real confidence heading into next season, however, and can only do his morale the world of good that the manager wants to cling onto him.