Dein: Supporters must forgive Ashley

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein today urged the club's fans to forgive Ashley Cole as he stressed his determination to restart talks with the defender over a new contract.

Cole was yesterday found guilty of approaching Chelsea while there were still two years to run on his existing deal and his relationship with Arsenal is at breaking point.

Dein nevertheless insisted Arsenal would restart talks with the defender over a new deal, declaring that he deserved a second chance.

"I hope the fans forgive him. We certainly have no hard feelings against him. I think he was silly and we said that in the hearing," he revealed. "Everybody makes mistakes in life and he has been punished but everyone deserves a second chance and we all move on. We have got a big season ahead of us and we want Ashley to be part of our future.

"We hope that he will stay at Arsenal. He has still got two years of his contract to run and we expect him to respect that and, in fact, maybe extend it. We want to retain him as an Arsenal player. We did not testify against him and did not want to see him punished."

Dein also appealed to Cole not to appeal against his guilty verdict in the Chelsea tapping-up affair.

He added: "It is Ashley's decision but I hope they will rethink that strategy. "