CLARETS chairman Barry Kilby believes the Football League may now have to pursue media giants Carlton and Granada if they are to get any of the television money they are owed.

With the break up of ITV Digital now looking inevitable he said: "I think we will have to pursue those two companies rather than have ITV Digital doing a deal.

"The worrying thing is that we have got no idea how long this will take. At the moment we are sitting here twiddling our thumbs and hoping something can be sorted out.

"I had a meeting yesterday with Stan Ternent and (chief executive) Andrew Watson and we had about four different scenarios and to be honest we have no idea which is the more likely.

"What we do know is that worst one is that we end up with next to nothing. We have already seen the problem this is creating for everyone in football from our division down and there does not appear to be an end in sight.

"The Football League is keeping us informed and we expect to hear from them today but it is almost impossible to plan for next season without knowing what your budget is.

"Traditionally this time of year is the quietest as contracts start to run out and then it starts getting busy in June and hopefully by then we will have a much clearer picture of what is going on."