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Mario Balotelli did not clash with Wolves' Saville, says Kenny Jackett

Wolves manager Kenny Jackett insists that Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli did not clash with any of his players during a friendly last Friday.

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It was alleged that Balotelli had either headbutted or stamped on Wolves midfielder George Saville during the behind-closed-doors match on Merseyside.

Sources told ESPN FC at the time that those rumours were untrue, and that there had been nothing more serious than a strong 50-50 challenge between the two players.

And Jackett has defended Balotelli publicly, insisting that the 24-year-old did nothing to upset him or Liverpool's management team of Brendan Rodgers and assistant Colin Pascoe.

The Wolves boss told the Birmingham Mail: "There were a few tackles in the game but nothing out of order.

"There was nothing we, or Brendan Rodgers or Colin Pascoe, were unhappy with or that the referee made anything of.

"I can't even remember a 50-50 between Balotelli and Saville. Declan Weeks pinged the ball off him a few times but then Balotelli showed some fantastic pieces of skill to go past some of our lads as well.

"I can't really think of an incident where him and Saville clashed, if I'm being truthful."

Balotelli joined Liverpool from AC Milan for 16 million pounds on Aug. 25, arriving with a reputation for controversy.

Rodgers said at the time that signing the Italy international was "a calculated risk," but added that he believed that he could help a player sent off four times during his two-and-a-half years with Manchester City.

Balotelli was substituted during the second half of Friday's friendly, in which Liverpool beat their Championship opponents 1-0 with a goal from Adam Lallana. But Jackett says that had nothing to do with any alleged incident involving Saville.

He said: "Balotelli was substituted, but not after any particular tackle or incident. The substitutes seemed to be warming up for ages and they seemed to be saying to Balotelli: 'Give him another 10 minutes.' That seemed to be the process.

"It looked like he was always going to come off after an hour but he went on until maybe 70 minutes or something like that.

"It was Colin Pascoe shouting to the player, who was happy to stay on."