Budget blues

PAUL Dickov says the club’s run in the FA Cup has made it harder to bring in new players within the club’s budget.

“Since the win against Nottingham Forest things have slightly changed,” he said.

“Clubs suddenly think we have a lot of money.

“What they don’t realise is that most, if not all, of the money from the Forest and Liverpool games is going towards the upkeep of the club which is the most important thing.”



DEAN Furman was surprisingly only handed a bench role as South Africa opened up their African Cup of Nations campaign with a scoreless draw against Cape Verde.

Athletic’s 24-year-old captain, a regular in the team in recent months, featured in the final warm-up match for the tournament on home soil against Algeria four days earlier.

But coach Gordon Igesund opted to omit him from the line-up as Bafana stuttered in Johannesburg, with Furman sitting out the full game.