Oxford United say they are carefully monitoring the situation at troubled satellite company Setanta.

However, they have not withdrawn the near £80,000 they get from the Irish broadcaster from their budget, as Conference chairman Brian Lee is urging all Blue Square Premier clubs to do.

Chairman Kelvin Thomas says United do nevertheless have contingency plans in place, as rumours continue that Setanta is on the verge of administration after a bail-out deal with Sky fell through.

Lee admitted at the weekend that the speculation over Setanta's viability is “worrying”, as clubs will be hard hit if Setanta are unable to fulfil their contract which has three years to run.

“We tell clubs not to use the TV money in their yearly budgets,” Lee said.

But Thomas felt it was not practical for clubs to operate like that. They just need to have a back-up in case of the worst-case scenarios.

“Yes, it is included in our budget, but we’re also aware of the need to keep a close eye on the Setanta situation,” he said. “And we’ve also got contingency plans in place for these sorts of things.

“In these economic times, it’s not just Setanta, there are a lot of businesses that are finding it difficult and you need to have contingencies in place.

“Setanta have their issues, I hope they get through them and hope they survive.”

It was back in 2006 that Setanta signed a deal with the Football Conference to screen a minimum of 79 games a season for five years.

It gave English football’s top non-League division far greater national exposure, but fans have been unhappy at seeing matches moved to Thursday nights and at odd times over the weekend, with some fixture changes made very late.

However, the income is a godsend to many clubs in the Conference.

Thomas said: “The club, as well as all the fans, get a little frustrated by the late changes of schedules to matches, but we have to offset that against the money we get in, which for clubs like ourselves, is very important.”

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