MK Dons boss Paul Ince has distanced himself from speculation linking him with any potential Carrow Road move.

MK Dons boss Paul Ince has distanced himself from speculation linking him with any potential Carrow Road move.

The former England international was forced to clarify his own position after his name was put forward with the Championship vacancies at Norwich and QPR.

“Someone's in a job and they obviously look at managers who are doing okay and just put two and two together,” he said. “And all of a sudden you just get speculation about nothing really. We're trying to do a job here, we don't need speculation like that to disrupt what we're trying to do at this club.”

Ince was linked with the vacant Coventry job during the summer before joining the Coca Cola Two leaders MK Dons after successfully guiding Macclesfield to safety last season.

Former Wigan manager Paul Jewell remained the bookmakers' favourite yesterday to succeed Peter Grant although Jewell is believed to be high on Bolton chairman Phil Gartside's wanted list. Trotters' boss Sammy Lee relieved Gary Speed of his coaching duties this week amidst speculation of growing unrest behind the scenes at the Reebok following Wanderers' poor start to the Premiership season.

Ex-Leicester boss Martin Allen is another early front runner although managerless League One Cheltenham have expressed an interest in speaking to the former Leicester chief.

“Martin Allen would be a strong candidate if he is available and interested in the job,” said Town chairman Paul Baker. “He is young, hungry and ambitious and has never been sacked. He has always left clubs of his own volition. He would be a candidate of equal standing with our caretaker boss Keith Downing, and it would be a difficult decision to choose between them.”

Meanwhile, Skysports' pundit Chris Kamara admitted he would be surprised if City's hierarchy had targeted recently dismissed Crystal Palace boss Peter Taylor. Kamara believes Taylor should take a break.

“I don't think Peter Taylor should bounce back straight into management,” he said. “Sometimes you need a little bit of time to recharge your batteries before taking on another challenge. I know what it's like as I did it myself. When I was sacked from Bradford I went straight into another job at Stoke City and it was just too early, looking back. There are enough managers out there for Norwich to go after at this moment in time but I would be surprised if Taylor was one of them for that reason. Dion Dublin's name has been mentioned but Norwich fans will have to wait and see.”

Former City stalwart Steve Bruce has been told he still has a future at Birmingham ahead of Hong Kong-businessman Carson Yeung's proposed takeover. Blues' chairman David Gold insisted he expects Bruce to remain at St Andrews.

“I hope for this to be resolved to Steve's satisfaction - I am optimistic this will happen,” he said “The last time I met Carson Yeung, he made it clear to me that he wanted Steve, Karen Brady, David Sullivan and myself to stay.”