Burnley's behind-closed-doors friendly against Sheffield Wednesday thrown into doubt
Burnley were due to face Sheffield Wednesday in a behind closed doors game on Saturday – but that’s now been thrown into doubt.
The Clarets’ main friendly this weekend comes away to Stoke City, where Scott Parker is expected to field close to his strongest side.
But given Burnley’s bloated squad, a separate game was scheduled to take place against the Owls at Gawthorpe on Saturday for those players in need of minutes.
But the game is now in some doubt after the Owls players threatened to go on strike after being warned they’re unlikely to be paid their July wages on time.
The scheduled payday of all employees is tomorrow, July 31.
It follows a turbulent summer at Hillsborough, which has seen the players not paid on time in four of the past five months.
Manager Danny Rohl has also departed by mutual consent while a number of players have also opted to move on. Henrik Pedersen, a member of Rohl’s backroom staff, is expected to take over.
According to our sister paper the Sheffield Star, the remaining players are said to be considering refusing to play in forthcoming games – putting Saturday's runout against Burnley under serious threat.
It’s also claimed some players are refusing to attend a scheduled training session tomorrow.
The club have been placed under numerous embargoes because of financial issues. Earlier this week the North Stand at Hillsborough was also closed by Sheffield Council over safety fears.
Wednesday have just 11 days until their season gets underway away to relegated Leicester City.