JASON McAteer last night warned Sunderland's board that the club are in danger of becoming "the new Sheffield Wednesday" unless they provide the necessary financial backing this summer.

The Black Cats are facing a second successive season in Division One after Monday night's play-off semi-final with Crystal Palace ended in the most heart-breaking of penalty shoot-out defeats.

Failure to bounce straight back into the Premiership is a disaster in footballing terms, but another season outside the top-flight could have even bigger repercussions financially.

Monday's defeat means Sunderland will miss out on the £25m bonanza that promotion would have brought and, with the club's debts still running at a barely sustainable £36m, some difficult decisions will have to be made this month.

Twenty-three first-team players were released last summer and, while that halved Sunderland's wage bill to £17m, that figure still represented the biggest set of player payments anywhere in the Nationwide League this year.

More departures seem certain to follow in the next month, but chairman Bob Murray must achieve a difficult balancing act between cutting costs and maintaining a squad able to challenge for promotion.

Plenty of clubs have failed to walk that tightrope following relegation from the top-flight and, with ten players at the end of their contracts, Sunderland's board hold the club's future in their hands.

"We're at a crossroads," said McAteer, who is one of the players facing an uncertain future as they come to end of their current deal.

"There are a lot of contracts up at the end of the season, and now it's up to the board to sit down and get this team nailed down again.

"Bob's got to sort the lads out. He's at a point where he's got to decide what he wants to do with this football club because he could lose a lot of talented players now.

"They come at a price and Bob and the board have got to sit down and make a decision now. Do they want to go for it again, or do they want to slip away and be another Sheffield Wednesday?

"If they're going let it become another Sheffield Wednesday then that's the way it's going to be.

"But if they put their hand in their pocket and pay these talented players, I'm sure the gaffer can mould them again, bring some other players in, and we can have another strong challenge for promotion.

"It's a decision that the chairman's got to make and he's running out of time."

Phil Babb and Joachim Bjorklund are likely to be two of the highest-profile victims of the anticipated cull, with the ageing duo having spent most of the season on the transfer list.

Jeff Whitley, Tommy Smith, Darren Byfield, John Oster, Carl Robinson, Thomas Myhre and Thomas Butler are also facing an uncomfortable couple of weeks as they wait to learn whether or not they have a future at the Stadium of Light.

Another mass exodus would force Sunderland to start rebuilding all over again but, unless the board give their full backing to Mick McCarthy's plans, McAteer fears they could even lose the manager himself.

McCarthy's exploits have not gone unnoticed this season and, after lifting the Black Cats from the depths of despair to the brink of the Premiership, the former Republic of Ireland boss is unlikely to be short of offers this summer.

"I do fear that there could be an exodus," said McAteer, who also played under McCarthy in the international arena. "It's out of the gaffer's hands unfortunately because this club is run by the board.

"They've got to do some serious thinking over the next couple of weeks for a number of reasons.

"One of them - and I'll say it - is to keep the gaffer. The gaffer's taken this football club from virtually nowhere to the semi-final of the FA Cup and the semi-final of the play-offs.

"He's going to be a wanted man and I'm sure there are jobs out there for Mick McCarthy.

"Mick's hearts here - he's always said that - and I'm sure that if he's given the right resources and the board look after him with his contract, he's going to stay here.

"He's really worked hard to mould this football club because a lot of top international players left him. No-one's saying that was a bad thing because the club had to balance things out financially.

"Fair play to the board, they did their job, but now it's a question of what they want to do.

"They've got a great manager and some talented young lads. It's up to the football club now to nail them down. If they don't, then who knows what might happen."

McAteer was left in tears after his penalty miss contributed to Sunderland's dramatic defeat. But, while the 32-year-old admits the loss was "like a death", his major concern is how Monday night's events will affect the club's younger players.

"I really feel like I've had my day in football," said the midfielder, who was part of Liverpool's FA Cup final side in 1996. "I've done most of what I wanted to do.

"I've been dealt a great set of cards, but now I really want the young lads to get on.

"I'm gutted for them and I'm gutted for the gaffer. It will take a long time to get over this, but it will bring us closer together.

"I don't long to be a Premiership player - but I do long to take Sunderland into the Premiership. Unfortunately we're not going to be there next season, so my challenge is to get a new contract here and then go again next season.

"It's disappointing to have to talk about that - but that's the reality of the situation."