Neil Critchley and Blackpool management team have continued to work with deferred pay

Chief executive Ben Mansford has confirmed that senior management, including Critchley and himself, have agreed wage deferrals to reduce the impact of lost income which is currently afflicting all clubs.

Blackpool said the situation regarding players’ pay is “more complicated” but thanked the squad for being “accommodating” and “incredibly supportive”.

Mansford said: “This is obviously an unprecedented and testing scenario for all businesses.

“The club has sought to keep a management team in place working as normal, albeit from home, alongside head coach Neil Critchley and the club’s football recruitment team.

“We have then utilised the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough most of the staff.

“The club’s senior management, including Neil Critchley and myself, have taken a wage deferral to help at this time.

“The situation with our current playing squad is a more complicated one due to a number of different contract structures having been put in place by the former ownership, the interim management, and the current board respectively.

“However, what I can confirm is that the players have been accommodating and very much accept that we are all in this together for the good of the club.”

Players’ pay, particularly among the high earners of the Premier League, has been a much-debated political issue during the coronavirus pandemic.

There has been resistance from players’ union the PFA to the idea of imposed pay cuts/deferrals, though the body has remained willing to discuss the issue.

Mansford added: “There is still so much uncertainty around football but what is reassuring is that there seems to be some acceptance from the PFA that player salaries may need to be part of any long-term solution.

“It would be wrong for me to talk about players in general. I can only speak about our own players, who have been incredibly supportive on a range of community and fan-engagement initiatives, including contacting supporters in isolation for instance.”