GILLINGHAM players will learn on Tuesday if their Christmases will be hit by wage cuts.

Chairman Paul Scally and club finance director Neal Carter will outline the club’s financial plight at a meeting with Mick McGuire, deputy chief executive of the players’ union, the Professional Footballers' Association, the PFA south east representative Bobby Barnes and a PFA lawyer.In the afternoon, the players will be brought into the negotiations.

Gillingham’s squad have not received a penny in bonuses for one-and-a-half seasons and in recent weeks speculation has persisted that the players will have to take wage-cuts.

One player said: “We all believe that by the end of next Tuesday we’ll have a clearer picture of the club’s financial state.

“The players have agreed to defer their bonuses and defer again. We don’t see what more we can do. The last thing we want is to take a wage cut as well.”

Under PFA rules, no player can have his contract reduced in value or terminated without his consent.

Meanwhile, former Gillingham owner Tony Smith, who sold the club to Mr Scally in 1995, has distanced himself from rumours that he is part of a consortium ready to ride to Gillingham's rescue.

He said: “I don’t know where these rumours started but I’m not interested in forming or joining any consortium.

“I’m just a season ticket holder. That’s all I intend being now and in the future.”