Town chief executive Derek Bowden has revealed that should the Blues get promoted at the end of the season, manager Joe Royle will be given a war chest to spend on strengthening the squad. Bowden also says that if Town remain in Division One there will be no need for enforced sales in the summer.

The chief executive told the club site: "Joe would be given a war chest, so to speak, to invest in strengthening the squad should we win promotion.

"Payments to our creditors would have to be met first and our creditors would benefit financially themselves if we won promotion, but a significant part of that £18m additional income would be handed to the manager for him to invest in the squad."

He added: "There will be no desperate financial need to sell players, it would be more to do with the composition of the squad.

"Joe would be building for the future and if he decided to accept an offer for a player in order to bring in others, then that would be his choice."

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