Championship previews: Pearson expects slashed budget if Leicester don't go up and more

Leicester boss Nigel Pearson admits the club face a change in financial strategy if they fail to go up to the Premier League this season.

The Foxes' wealthy Thai owners chucked millions at chasing promotion last summer under then-boss Sven Goran Eriksson.

They signed the likes of Jermaine Beckford, David Nugent, Paul Konchesky and Kasper Schmeichel, and as a result now foot one of the Championship's largest wage bills.

But despite an improvement under Pearson after Eriksson was axed in October, making the play-offs is a tall order.

And with financial fair play rules demanding that clubs break even set to be introduced for the 2013-14 season, Pearson knows Leicester's current policy is unsustainable.

"There has to be different strategies moving forward," he admitted ahead of his side's trip to Blackpool on Wednesday. "It is important to plan for the future with an eye on different scenarios, which is something the club has done.

"It is not just a case of writing debts off, it is managing it and I think the club will have a very sensible business plan.

"We are very fortunate we have very wealthy benefactors who have invested an awful lot of money in the squad and infrastructure.

"But with the financial fair play looming, it is something the club will address.

"We are not a million miles away from promotion, but our inconsistencies have made it very difficult to make inroads into the league."

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MALKY MACKAY refuses to blame his Cardiff side's mini-slump on their Carling Cup heroics.

The Bluebirds are preparing for their 47th game of the season at home to Coventry, and badly need the three points as a run of just one win in six games has seen them slip out of the play-off places.

Their famous march to Wembley, where they only lost on penalties to Premier League Liverpool, appears to be taking its toll.

But ahead of Wednesday's match boss Mackay insisted: "That is an excuse and it is something I categorically will not throw around.

"We have played that many games and we have played X amount of games more than most other sides in the league.

"But the amount of games is something we have looked at all the way through and something we are aware of.

"We try and manage and control it through recovery strategies. The players themselves have got us to this point and, going forward, it will drive us on."

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EDDIE HOWE has challenged his Burnley players to go unbeaten for the rest of the season after changing their style.

Howe insists he has not given up on sneaking into the top six, despite his side only having 49 points going into Wednesday's trip to Ipswich.

Burnley are winless in five matches after a point at Cardiff on Sunday, but Howe reckons his decision to change the team's style to pass the ball out from the back and keep more possession is paying off.

He said: "We have set them a target we want to win every game and remain unbeaten. It is a tough ask but I still believe anything is possible.

"There is a gap between us and the top six but I believe we are good enough.

"The lads passed it well at Cardiff and we have to be brave enough to say that is how we want to do it and really stick to what we are trying to do."