Bradford City plunged deeper into crisis today after 15 players sacked by the club went on strike.

The players - who make up most of City's first team squad - were refusing to play in tonight's friendly at Hull City after a "negative" meeting with chairman Geoffrey Richmond.

They said they were not "in the right frame of mind" to turn out.

The players have not been paid since their contracts were torn-up in May after the club went into administration, but until yesterday had agreed to play in friendly matches for free.

Just hours before talking to Mr Richmond, players' spokesman David Wetherall had said there was "no plan to strike". But the dramatic U-turn raises fresh doubts about the outcome of Thursday's showdown meeting of creditors which will decide the fate of the club.

Today chairman Geoffrey Richmond, who is leading a rescue package to save City, refused to say if he remained optimistic it would succeed.

Mr Richmond has to convince insurance firm Gerling UK, which is owed more than £7 million, to back the deal. Without that firm's support, it would be difficult to achieve sufficient backing to see the deal through.

David Wetherall's comments about his face-to-face meeting with the chairman, which also included three other senior players, reveal the scale of the players' concern about the situation.

"We had a meeting with the chairman which was quite negative in the sense of the future of the club," he said. "With this in mind we have decided not to play in tonight's friendly.

"The players are not in the right frame of mind to play football. We don't want to risk getting injured tonight because we may have to look for jobs with other clubs at the end of the week."

City were tonight expected to field a mixture of trialists, young professionals, and trainees as the game at Boothferry Park goes ahead.

The 15 refusing to play were: Gary Walsh, Aidan Davison, Peter Atherton, Andy Myers, David Wetherall, Jamie Lawrence, Ashley Ward, Eoin Jess, Robert Molenaar, Gary Locke, Juanjo, Claus Jorgensen, Andy Tod, Wayne Jacobs and Danny Cadamarteri.

Former player Benito Carbone, now in Italy with Como, has been offered a an £800,000 compensation deal for loss of wages when his multi-million pound contract was torn-up.

But Wetherall, the club's Professional Footballers' Association representative, said the axed 15 players would attend training on Wednesday.

"We will train as usual and remain hopeful that a resolution can be found to the situation on Thursday," he said.

However, in an official statement Bradford City claimed the players had been "split" over the decision not to take to the field tonight.

It comes despite PFA chairman Gordon Taylor publicly backing Mr Richmond's joint bid with David and Julian Rhodes to save the club.

The union has guaranteed a multi-million pound loan to help the rescue package and was expected to pay the players next week if Thursday's meeting was successful.

But it is understood the players now fear the future of the club is in such jeopardy that they might never receive their cash.

Dave Pendleton, former editor of the City Gent fanzine, admitted news of the players' boycott "made a bleak situation even bleaker".

He urged all season ticket holders to use their vote on Thursday to give Bradford City the best possible chance of survival.

"There is nothing else that we can do," he said. "We just do not know if the deal will succeed. I think until now a lot of people have been deluding themselves about how close we really are to the end. It is going to be a close call."

Bradford City Supporters' Trust chairman Chris Hawkridge said he understood the decision of the players but admitted it was "not the news the fans wanted to hear".

"I can understand they are not in the right frame of mind to play football tonight, and I don't think the fans are in the right frame of mind to watch a game either," he said.

"I am still very hopeful everything will be okay on Thursday, but a lot will depend on what Gerling decide to do."

Urging all season tickets to use their vote, he added: "I hope they realise that they could make the difference between this club surviving and going under."

The crisis meeting of creditors, including season ticket holders, takes place at Valley Parade on Thursday at 10am.