AFC TOTTON have slapped a giant “Not For Sale” sign on goalkeeper Steve Mowthorpe following interest from Southern One South & West rivals Winchester City.

City requested permission to speak to the 22-year-old former Saints academy stopper last week after discovering he was on contract at Testwood Park.

But their request was flatly rejected by Totton who have no intention of letting Mowthorpe go anywhere right now – let alone to a league rival.

With Samuel Somerville released earlier in the season, Winchester need competition for young Brendan Norris, but Totton boss Steve Hollick insists they are barking up the wrong tree.

“Steve is one player we wouldn’t want to lose, he’s on contract and we’ve got no intention of selling him,” he stressed. “We look forward to him wearing an AFC Totton shirt for years to come.

“In the position Winchester are in, I fully understand their interest. On their day Steve and (Wimborne Town’s) Jason Harvell are the best 'keepers in this league.”

Himself a member of the goalkeepers’ union, Hollick is in a good position to judge Mowthorpe’s potential.

“I’ve coached Steve for two years and I know how good the kid can be,” he said.

“He’s been around a long time but he’s still a young lad and he’s still developing.

“If Winchester go up or someone else from higher up puts in a sensible offer further down the line, we wouldn’t stand in the way of Steve progressing. But a sideways move or Wessex football? Not a chance!”

Through no fault of his own Mowthorpe came in for some undue criticism at the start of the season as a catalogue of defensive howlers cost Totton dear.

Hollick admitted: “It was a combination of bad defending and individual errors and, for some reason, Steve was on the end of some unfair flak.

“He’s starting to get back to the best I’ve ever seen him and the interest from Winchester has helped his confidence so, in a roundabout way, it’s good for us.

“I’ve got a lot of time for Paul Masters and Paul Wiltshire (Winchester’s manager/assistant), they were very complimentary when we played them.

“I’ve no problems with Winchester as such, but trying to pinch our goalkeeper’s not the best thing to do.

“We’ve invested a lot of time and effort in Steve and he’s one of our future players.”

Having got their first win against Yate two weeks ago, Totton will look to build on it on Saturday away to a Bridgwater side who, like them, have banked just four points from seven games.

Widemen Mike Gosney and Nick Watts should back, but Chris Manning has work commitments.