ROTHERHAM UNITED last night enquired about the availability of the experienced Chester City midfield player Kevin Ellison.

The 30-year-old former Tranmere Rovers player indicated earlier this month that he saw his immediate future with a Football League club and wasn’t prepared to drop down to the Blue Square Premier League with the relegated Deva Stadium outfit. Chester chief executive Bob Gray confirmed the approach last night. He said: “We have received an enquiry from Rotherham and whilst we still hold Kevin’s contract, we wouldn’t stand in his way if Rotherham wished to take the matter further.

“We have started preparing for next season and obviously our manager, Mark Wright, only wants players at the club who want to play for us.”

Macclesfield are also reportedly interested in signing Ellison, however, Gray revealed that City hadn’t received any enquiries for their two other want-away players, Ryan Lowe and Paul Linwood.

Meanwhile, Chester midfielders, Jay Harris and David Mannix have pleaded not guilty to the charges of illegal betting alleged by the Football Association.

The pair were Accrington Stanley players when the alleged offences occurred at the end of the 2007-08 season.

“Obviously we are monitoring this situation extremely closely and at the moment it wouldn’t be prudent to make any public comments at this stage,” said Gray.