Paul Ince today admitted he will make trying to keep David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz at Blackburn his priority after being officially unveiled as the club's new manager.

Bentley and Santa Cruz have both been linked with moves away from Ewood Park and Ince wants to have talks with both players as soon as possible to convince them to stay.

Striker Santa Cruz has been targeted by Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal after scoring 19 goals in his first season in the Premier League, while Bentley has already spoken of his desire to leave Blackburn. The England midfielder has been targeted by Tottenham, who hope to sign him in a £15million deal, while Liverpool and Aston Villa are also believed to be in the hunt.

But Ince said: "Any manager starting his first year in the Premier League wants to keep his best players, so I'll be speaking to Bentley and Santa Cruz, and indeed all of my players, and then we'll go from there.

"It's hard to form an opinion until you've spoken to the players directly, but I want to do well this season, and I want to start off well at Blackburn, not just for myself but for the people who have stuck by me, and for the fans. Getting rid of your best players is not the best way to go about that."

Ince has already set a benchmark by becoming the first black English manager in the top flight. He said: "It means a lot (to make history) but it's also about that fact that I'm in the Premier League. Whether I'm black, white or whatever, I'm just proud to be in the Premier League.

"I'm delighted to have been given this chance and I'm very excited by it. Mark did a fantastic job here and it's now down to me to continue that."