Paul Sturrock has pleaded with former club suitors BEST Holdings to do the honourable thing and help solve Town's immediate financial crisis by looking after their own.

With 32 senior squad members, the Town boss knows he must reduce the wage bill as the club fight against mounting debts, and has urged the now departing BEST to take the three men they brought to the club with them.

Before the Portuguese consortium's takeover talks at the Couny Ground collapsed last week, Ibon Arrieta, Mauro Almeida and Franklin Anzite all arrived at the club but Sturrock has now made it clear they are surplus to requirements.

Barry Corr marked his return from six months on the sidelines with the only goal against high-flyers Tranmere on Saturday to send Town just three points off the automatic promotion zone, but Sturrock knows sacrifices have to be made.

Spaniard Arrieta, Portugal's Almeida and Frenchman Anzite were all signed at the bequest of prospective buyers BEST but now, with that deal dead and other buyers looking through the books, Sturrock has called on the trio to go.

He said: "It has been a yo-yo season off the football pitch. It has been very disappointing in a lot of aspects. We have three players here, who were brought to this football club by the would-be owners.

"I know these men are honourable and I would expect them, I ask them, to appreciate tonight that this football club cannot afford to finance these type of players.

"They are surplus to requirements. They are honourable men and I am very thoughtful they will come and help us because the deal has not been done and they have three players here."

With Arrieta on a two-year contract and both Anzite and Almeida handed one-year deals, Sturrock knows a refusal to budge from the triumvirate would do nothing to ease the money problems hanging over the County Ground.

"The problem we have is we can't finance the players we have got," said Sturrock. "With the owners who were taking over they had a different vision of how the club was going to go and thought these players would have blended in to how we were going to go.

"I don't feel these players are any better than what we have. In fact we are surplus to the areas they play at and so it is important that we get things sorted out.

"As I said all along they were brought here by the so-called new owners. I would like to think they would look after their players."

While Saturday's victory ended in small-scale protests outside the Arkells stand against the current regime, Sturrock has again urged the Town fans to remain as patient as they can.

He said: "We have got someone else who wants to have a look at everything.

This club is going in the right direction, I can assure the people who are looking to take over.

"Yes financially we are a mess, we have been for 10 years, and as I said the Wills' have put £800,000 of their money into this football club nearly every season and you can't keep doing that.

"We will have to balance the books and be appreciative of that, but it would be nice to get a benefactor in and ease our woes.

"I am as confident as I was the last time. I am very hopeful sooner or later the Wills family will be eased in their woes of finding money for this football club and then very hopeful the restructuring off and on the park will help Swindon Town to push on."

can.

He said: "We have got someone else who wants to have a look at everything.

This club is going in the right direction, I can assure the people who are looking to take over.

"Yes financially we are a mess, we have been for 10 years, and as I said the Wills' have put £800,000 of their money into this football club nearly every season and you can't keep doing that.

"We will have to balance the books and be appreciative of that, but it would be nice to get a benefactor in and ease our woes.

"I am as confident as I was the last time. I am very hopeful sooner or later the Wills family will be eased in their woes of finding money for this football club and then very hopeful the restructuring off and on the park will help Swindon Town to push on."