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Brendan Rodgers rules himself out of Aston Villa job

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has ruled himself out of contention for the vacant Aston Villa manager's job.

Rodgers is on the Championship club's three-man shortlist to replace Steve Bruce, who was sacked on 3 October after one win in nine matches.

Villa are also considering ex-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and Rui Faria, Jose Mourinho's long-time assistant.

"I'm the Celtic manager and I love it and have lots of challenges here," Rodgers told BBC Scotland.

Asked, after Sunday's 6-0 win over St Johnstone, if he would rule himself out of the running for the Villa job, he said: "Yes. There is always speculation, but I'm sure they'll have the person in mind that they want to bring in.

"Villa is a top Premier League club that's in the Championship and I'm sure, with their support base and resources, they will try and get back there as quickly as they can."

However, speaking at his news conference subsequent to that interview, Rodgers said "you can't rule me out because I have never been asked".

Last month, Rodgers revealed he had had "a few offers" to leave Celtic and turned down an approach from a Chinese club during the summer.

Villa lost 2-1 at Millwall with under-23 coach Kevin MacDonald in charge on Saturday and are now 15th in the English second tier.

Former Villarreal coach Fran Escriba and Benfica B coach Bruno Lage have also been linked with the job.

Henry and Faria have both spoken recently about their desire to become full-time managers.

Henry is part of Belgium's coaching team under boss Roberto Martinez, while Faria has experience with Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid but left United last May for personal reasons.

It is understood there have been no formal approaches to any candidates as yet.

Meanwhile, Celtic have confirmed they have not received an approach for Rodgers and do not expect one.