Oxford United's position was described as "desperate" today with no further offers coming in for players.

It is believed the club need to sell a player by the weekend to avoid having to go into administration.

Non-playing staff, including the management team Malcolm Shotton and Mark Harrison, club secretary Mick Brown, office staff and groundsmen, have not been paid since the end of September.

"Staff haven't been paid now for six weeks," Brown confirmed. "It's getting desperate."

One club official said: "I want to stay here but I've been looking around for another job, just to have something to fall back on.

"It's an awful situation for people because nobody knows what's going on. We just want to know one way or the other what's going to happen."

The crisis group FOUL (Fighting for Oxford United's Life) have organised a public meeting for everyone interested in the club's survival.

It will take place at Oxford Town Hall next Wednesday, November 25 (7.30pm).

The purpose of the meeting is to publicise United's plight and to highlight the potential consequences of the club's closure to the community.

FOUL say they hope to demonstrate to all parties, including local councils, businesses and all residents of Oxfordshire, that there are a large number of people who care deeply about the club's fate and who are prepared actively to support the continuation of professional football in the city.

As well as calling for supporters of the club to attend, FOUL have invited a number of local councillors, MPs, Oxford United directors, prominent local businessmen, former players and celebrity supporters to attend the meeting as guest speakers.

In addition, they have also asked for speakers from other clubs who have been near to closure and survived, such as AFC Bournemouth, Brighton, Chester City, to come and share their experiences with the meeting.

Meanwhile, some fans will be playing football through the night to raise money for cash-strapped United.

Matthew Hardy of Freeland, near Witney, has organised a five-a-side tournament for Friday, December 11 (9pm to 9am) to raise funds.

He said: "We hope to raise a decent amount of money through sponsorship as 20 of us will be taking to the streets to find cash.

"It is essential that we all pull together to keep Oxford United going."

Anyone willing to sponsor Matthew can contact him on 01993 882099 to ask for a sponsorship form.

Joey Beauchamp, whose £800,000 move to Nottingham Forest collapsed last week when he failed a medical, was named in the reserves' line-up for their Avon Insurance Combination Division 1 game at Brentford today.

With Phil Whelan and Les Robinson suspended for Saturday's Division 1 home game against Port Vale, Beauchamp is expected to return to the starting line-up, but it will mean juggling the side around.

"We worked on one system yesterday and we'll work on another before the game to see what looks best," said Harrison. "We've got to build on the win at Birmingham."

United Res: from Jackson, Rose, Townsend, Lewis, Whelan, Shepheard, Cook, Beauchamp, Wright, Folland, Weatherstone, Banger, Brennan, D Whitehead.

STEVE Davis is to undergo surgery tomorrow in a bid to cure his Achilles problems which have sidelined him for nearly three months. The former Barnsley defender hasn't played since August 22.

UNITED midfielder Tony Wright has pulled out of Wales Under 21s' game against Portugal this evening after going down with illness on Sunday.

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