Darlington's players are facing up to the prospect of having to take a pay cut, and caretaker boss Craig Liddle says he sympathises with frustrated chairman Raj Singh.

In reaction to the club's disappointing start to the season, which was capped by losing at Hinckley in the FA Cup on Tuesday, Singh has taken drastic measures in his desire to reduce the hefty wage bill.

He says he puts about £20,000 per week into Quakers, who are 14th in the Blue Square Bet Premier and, as revealed in The Northern Echo yesterday, Singh is wants to renegotiate players' contracts.

Liddle, who has turned down the opportunity to become the club's permanent boss, will be on the touchline for today's home game with AFC Telford and said: "I've had a discussion with the chairman and I think the gist of it is that he's fed up with putting huge amounts of money into the club, and if I'm honest who could blame him?

"He witnessed the performance on Tuesday and the second half didn't do us any favours. He's come to the conclusion that sooner or later something is going to have to give because he's not getting what he's paying for on the pitch.

"He's put in a lot of money and he wants some sort of commitment that they'll put something back into the football club.

"I spoke to the players before training on Thursday morning and they were a little bit shocked and annoyed, but once they'd settled down I gave them the cold facts and then they understood it. For any individual to be pumping that sort of money into a business that is failing, I don't think there's a person in the club who would disagree with the chairman.

"But there are contracts to honour and a whole host of things that need to be ironed out between the chairman and the players. The PFA will probably get involved at some point as well."

Any Darlington players unwilling to comply with Singh's wage renegotiation could involve the players' union, the Professional Footballers' Association.

PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor last night said: "That can't happen without the consent of the players. It's hard to comment without knowing the full situation, but what has happened with other clubs is that players have been asked to defer wages until the club is in a better financial position.

"If players are being told that the future of the club is at risk, it puts the players in an insidious situation.

"If it came to it, we could visit the club to speak to the players and help resolve the matter."

As an alternative to reducing their salary, Singh has told the players they are free to leave, but insists there will be no more pay-offs for anybody who wants to leave before their deal is due to expire.

He has already spent a considerable sum over the past two years in enabling various players and managers to leave before their contracts have run their course, Tommy Wright and Chris Lumsdon among them.

Former boss Mark Cooper and his assistant Richard Dryden, sacked a fortnight ago, both want their contracts that were due to run until the end of the season paid in full. Singh met them on Wednesday in an attempt to resolve the issue.

That came the day after defeat at Hinckley, a game that cost Quakers financially. Last season they made about £30,000 through the competition in prize money, plus gate receipts from two well-attended home ties with Bristol Rovers and York, but Hinckley won £12,500 on Tuesday.

Liddle added: "In the last two weeks alone he's probably lost around £100,000 and he can't keep doing that. So I don't think it's something the chairman wants to do, it's out of necessity more than anything else.

"I don't think it's a case of wanting to penalise the players, but there's not a bottomless pit of money and he can't keep throwing money at it. We lost a huge amount of money by not getting any further in the FA Cup, the ex- manager and his assistant want their contacts honouring."

For Liddle, seeing Darlington embroiled in financial problems is nothing new having twice experienced administration, in 2003 and 2009.

"I was saying to the lads on Thursday, I've been through two administrations and now this and it's not a nice experience,'' he said. "My wife was asking over tea last night, 'is it like this at any other club?' - and I don't think it is.

"We are probably a unique club. You got tired of thinking 'not again', but the youth team boys have been asking questions, so you've got to assure them because they are just young boys starting out.

"But I'm not going to go and get a 'normal' job, I love it really!"