AN angry Ricky Sbragia last night accused Tottenham of deliberately trying to unsettle Kenwyne Jones, but claimed Sunderland would be “building their team” around the Trinidad & Tobago international.

Despite Sunderland’s repeated insistence that Jones is not for sale this month, Spurs officials made a third approach for the striker over the weekend.

Their offer, which is understood to have been around £6m plus England international Darren Bent, was immediately rejected at the Stadium of Light, but the manner in which it was subsequently leaked to the London- based press has caused considerable anger on Wearside.

Having infuriated Middlesbrough in the first half of the transfer window thanks to a very public pursuit of Stewart Downing, Tottenham officials are now frustrating Sunderland with a relentless campaign that appears designed to undermine Jones’ position.

Sbragia is adamant it will be unsuccessful, but has criticised Spurs’ conduct in recent weeks and urged the London club to finally draw a line under the matter.

“It’s the methods Tottenham use that is the most disappointing thing,” said the Sunderland boss, who remains hopeful of signing at least one new defender before Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby with Newcastle.

“They’ve inquired, we’ve said no, but leaks keep coming out and that’s very frustrating.

The biggest concern for us is ensuring that the player’s head doesn’t get turned.

“We’ve said no to Spurs on many occasions, so when they start putting things in the papers, it’s bad p r a c t i s e .

T h e r e has been lots of stuff flying about, and I just think that’s completely wrong.

“It’s depressing when other clubs are voicing that t h e y want our players after we have said no numerous times.

“They are still coming back and doing it.

“They’re trying to get into the player’s head and maybe trying to work the agent a bit more to push the situation. Is there anything we can do about it? Well, he won’t be going. There’s no way.”

Indeed, r a t h e r t h a n l o o k - i n g t o offload Jones, Sunderland officials are ready to instigate discussions about a new contract, despite the former Southampton striker still having two-and-a-half-years of his current deal to run.

Sbragia joined chairman Niall Quinn in a face-to-face discussion with Jones, left, on Friday, and confirmed just how important the striker is to the club’s long-term plans.

Crucially, the 24-year-old appears to have been willing to buy in to that vision.

“We spoke to Kenwyne and he’s happy here,” he said.

“He seemed pleased about things and, when we asked him whether the situation had been a problem for him, he said ‘No’.

“He was very bright and positive in the meeting, but there’s been a lot of pressure put on him which I think is completely wrong. He has never shown once that he doesn’t want to be here. In training, he has been as good as gold.

“The ownership of the club know the situation and agree that we’re building something around Kenwyne.

“Why should we lose our best players? I can’t quite understand that. I can’t see why we should sell players to clubs in the same situation as ours.

We want to keep him here and build a team around him.”

Sunderland had rebuffed two previous approaches from Tottenham, but Friday’s was the first to formally include Bent as part of any deal.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp claimed his wife Sandra could have scored from the opportunity Bent spurned against Portsmouth eight days ago, and Sbragia has questioned the Spurs boss’ handling of a £16.5m asset.

“I feel very sorry for Darren Bent if I’m being truthful with you,” he said. “There’s been a reference there that Harry’s wife could have scored that goal and I thought that was a bit of an insult to Darren.”