According to Radio 5 Live the Sky Blues snubbed the £5.1m offer and refused to give Villa permission to talk to the England striker.

Dublin has already turned down the chance to join Blackburn, who had a £6.75m offer accepted by Coventry.

Villa manager John Gregory is determined to continue his attempt to bring Dublin to the Birmingham club.

"We have reaffirmed our offer made yesterday in another fax to Coventry City," Gregory said.

"We are now seeking permission from Coventry City to speak to the player and his agent."

He went on: "He scores goals and has an outstanding record at Coventry.

"Dion has done extremely well at Coventry and he is one of two or three more players I would like to sign.

"I'm envious of Chelsea with the sort of quality they have in their squad. It's something I'm aiming to achieve with Villa.