KEIGHLEY Cougars general manager Steve Gill has insisted players will be paid overdue bonuses this week as he revealed the extent of the club's financial plight.

In an exclusive interview, he said the club's new owners, Austria Holdings, are dealing with clearing between £40,000 and £50,000 worth of inherited debt, which includes electricity and gas bills and unpaid creditors.

Gill confirmed the players were paid their latest wages two weeks ago, but they have yet to receive their match bonuses, adding 'hopefully these will be paid by the end of this week'.

He added the club's owners are compiling their new-look squad for next season but head coach Craig Lingard will be working on a significantly lower budget, as Gill revealed the players' budget for the 2018 season was £250,000.

Gill said: "I accept criticism about the players not being paid on time. It's important that they are paid. I understand their frustrations.

"We need to make sure staff and players get paid and get that sorted out.

"I want to get on with my job. I will be here as long as the club is sustainable. We need sustainability so we don't have this embarrassment again this time next year. We have got to start looking at paying off our inherited debts.

"In the first year we will be building up the club and not going cap in hand all of the time and not go through what we are going through now.

"Some players are staying with us, some players are leaving, I understand that as well. But we feel it's time to change the playing side.

"The budget for next year is nowhere near what it was for 2018, it was not sustainable.

"In the last two games of the 2018 season, we did not take enough money at the ground, we only made £1,800 and £2,000 from these games. We want people coming and spending money, but we've got to make it right for them. We have got to look at the deals done in the past.

"There's nobody to blame. We just need to draw a line under 2018 and start building the club. We can only do that by everybody pulling together. It has to be one step at a time. We can't get back to the Cougarmania. We have got to make our own history and chapter and build a club that our sons and grandsons can watch.

"We need to get the belief back of supporters, players and sponsors and the people of Keighley."