McCarthy was excluded from squad for next year's Nations Cup

The striker's exclusion prompted rumours of a deal between the South African FA and his English club.

But Blackburn boss Mark Hughes insists that they played no part in influencing coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's squad.

Hughes said: "It was a surprise to me when I heard that Benni hadn't been named in the South Africa squad.

"As a club, we expected Benni to be involved and I'm sure that he was as surprised as the rest of us that he hadn't been selected."

Hughes admitted that admitting McCarthy's shock absence from the tournament is an unexpected bonus for the Premier League club.

"It will obviously help us to have Benni around in January when we had anticipated him being away," Hughes added.

"But we didn't put any pressure on Benni or the South African association to keep him out of the tournament.

"However, if he isn't going on international duty, we have to be pleased.

"Aaron Mokoena has been selected for South Africa, so we have to accept that, but he is the only player that we will be missing, so it's worked out well for us."