Huddersfield 1 Mansfield 1

Last updated : 18 March 2003 By Footymad Previewer

Huddersfield Town boss Mick Wadsworth has demanded club chairman David Taylor sort out the Terriers financial mess out as soon as possible.

Wadsworth spoke out after watching his players - who have not been paid in full since November - turn in another gutsy performance.

The players are owed more than £1million in unpaid wages but Taylor is struggling to keep the club afloat and has threatened to liquidate the club on Friday if no new investors come forward and help him deal with £6 million of debt.

Taylor said he can no longer afford to bankroll Huddersfield Town's appalling financial losses but manager Wadsworth has sided with the players.

"The performance was a credit to the players because you would not get a very good house built if you did not pay the bricklayers." Wadsworth said.

"Some of the players are not as settled as they were a couple of months ago and one or two of them are really feeling the pinch.

"I have relayed my concerns to the chairman and there is no doubt that the players will continue to receive my undying support." The Terriers took the lead on 50 minutes when Mansfield keeper Keith Welch misjudged Martin Smith's long-range drive.

Welch seemed to think the effort was drifting wide and then collapsed to his knees in despair when he saw the ball nestle just inside his left-hand post.

Stags boss Keith Curle made an immediate tactical switch to a three-man defence and the move almost paid immediate dividends.

The visitors went on the attack after going behind and were nearly level when Town defender Adi Moses sliced Liam Lawrence's right-wing cross onto his own post.

But Mansfield's deserved equaliser was not long in coming. Terriers defender Jason Gavin, making his home debut on loan from Middlesbrough, handled in the box and Mansfield midfielder Wayne Corden stepped up to stroke in the resultant spot-kick on 79 minutes.

Mansfield's assistant boss John Gannon said afterwards: "The draw is a useful starting point for the Stags' survival push.

"There are now only nine games to go so this could be a useful building block from which we can hopefully avoid relegation.

"The players were disappointed not to have won but we told them that it had been a battling performance in which they could have got nothing."