Aston Villa have vowed not to rush into frittering away manager John Gregory's £30 million transfer kitty on "sexy" signings. The club is flush following the sale of Dwight Yorke, to Manchester United, and David Unsworth, to Everton, for over £15 million last week.

The incoming cash adds to Gregory's already burgeoning transfer funds but club secretary director Steve Stride says Villa will not be rushed into gambling the money on expensive foreign signings. "I know all the rage is for big, sexy signings, like the ones Chelsea have made," said Stride. "But they haven't won a game yet."

Meanwhile the ever contradictory Gordon Strachan completed the £1.2 million signing of 25-year-old defender Marc Edworthy from Crystal Palace to Coventry yesterday. In its own way it was a "big, sexy signing" as Strachan had already tried to sign Edworthy two times before.