No Sales Before Weekend

As players and staff at Cardiff weren’t paid this month, manager Lennie Lawrence is concerned that his club’s financial problems will result in the sale of several key players in coming weeks.

The club is believed to have a wage bill topping £750,000 a month, which must be reduced for Cardiff to turn their off-field problems around, while further problems stem from not attracting large enough crowds at Ninian Park.

"If there is a problem which has caused wages not to be paid, one of the remedies to look at is selling players," said Lawrence.

"You don't have to be Einstein to realise that, but it's something that you've got to think about."

Lawrence pledged that no players would go before Saturday’s match against Sheffield United at Ninian Park, in an optimistic view that the financial problem could be solved differently, however, it is believed that the bigger clubs in the Championship are lining up moves for his players, with Wigan expected to snap up influential captain Graham Kavanagh.

Lawrence added, "Hopefully there will be no sales at all, unless it's a deal that would have stood up in normal circumstances.

If speculation holds up, it is possible that Cardiff will have to find a new captain among its ranks for Saturday’s game.