• The £45,000-a-week player is not seeking a move
• Club owes £35m and wants to reduce player wage bill

Hull City’s already slim hopes of offloading Jimmy Bullard this summer received a setback today when the midfielder signalled his intention to see out the remaining three years on his £45,000-a-week contract at the KC Stadium.

A source close to Bullard said: “Jimmy is not seeking a move at all, he is happy to stay at Hull.” Selling the injury-prone former Wigan and Fulham playmaker was always going to be tricky as Hull bought him from Fulham for £5m 15 months ago despite Bullard failing a medical.

Paul Duffen, the former chairman at the KC Stadium, subsequently admitted that the club had been unable to take out insurance on their record signing as Bullard’s knees were uninsurable.

Realistically, the only way anyone might be tempted to recruit him would be on a pay-as-you-play basis but the fragile kneed 31-year-old is not prepared to exchange a basic £45,000-a-week – and with assorted add-ons that remuneration rises to around £50,000 – for such insecurity.

Hull, who have commissioned an independent audit of their finances, are £35m in debt, in effect relegated from the Premier League and trying to stave off the threat of administration or the need to enter a Company Voluntary Arrangement. With the atmosphere between the club’s owner Russell Bartlett and the chairman Adam Pearson extremely tense, it is not impossible Pearson could resign. For the moment, he is working to reduce the player wage bill from £40m a year to £15m while also helping restructure the debt by re-negotiating loans with various creditors.

It helps that, due to high earners including George Boateng being out of contract this summer and a series of loan deals involving players such as Jozy Altidore ending, natural wastage means the wage bill is expected to drop significantly by July. Although the club intends to make a announcement regarding their future direction at the end of this week the next two months will be critical in averting administration or a CVA and the attendant deduction of 10 points by the Football League.

Much depends on whether Hull can meet an outstanding £4m plus tax debt to HM Revenue and Customs. It would help if they could swiftly sell the midfielder Stephen Hunt. He is valued at around £5m but is recovering from a broken foot and will not be fit again until August, thereby missing pre-season training at a new club. This makes him less attractive to potential suitors and, apart form delaying any deal, may force his price down.

Even so Bartlett’s biggest current worry will be the potential loss of an increasingly disillusioned Pearson. Acknowledged as one of the brightest financial brains in football Pearson was brought back to the club he rescued from extinction in 2001 and sold to Bartlett in 2007, last winter in the wake of Duffen’s abrupt departure following an auditor’s warning from Hull’s accountants Deloitte.

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This tends to be an eventful time of the season for Charles N’Zogbia. Last January, he was dubbed, accidentally or otherwise, “Insomnia” by Joe Kinnear, prompting the midfielder to abandon Newcastle’s sinking ship for the calmer waters of Wigan. Now, while reportedly touting himself to Birmingham City, the midfielder courted further controversy last Wednesday by heading straight for the Old Trafford tunnel and opting not to shake hands with his replacement, Scott Sinclair, when substituted in Wigan’s 5-0 defeat to Manchester United.

This cup tie provided a rapid reversal of fortunes, even by the Frenchman’s standards. He was the catalyst for a comeback that may not prove memorable – only 5,335 supporters witnessed it – but at least it suggested a commitment to the Wigan cause.

This time N’Zogbia himself was the substitute. The manager, Roberto Martínez, has appeared reluctant to summon reinforcements during his time at Wigan. Decisive action brought a response, however, when N’Zogbia, introduced after half-time, struck within two minutes. Trademark acceleration enabled the Frenchman to combine with Jason Scotland, accepting the latter’s pass before producing a crisp finish for the equalising goal.

N’Zogbia contributed, too, as Wigan took the lead. Cutting infield from the right, he found James McCarthy, whose 20-yard shot was deflected before beating Boaz Myhill, giving the teenager his first Wigan goal.

N’Zogbia’s involvement in the third goal was even greater. He took a short corner, accepted a return pass from Sinclair and meandered into the penalty area before placing a low shot into the far corner of the goal. Sinclair provided a fitting end to proceedings, finishing adeptly from an astute angle.

While Martínez had made six changes, his Hull counterpart, Phil Brown, had made seven. Nevertheless, his side led at half-time. After Titus Bramble fouled Kamil Zayatte, Geovanni provided the breakthrough. A free-kick three minutes earlier, sailing harmlessly over the bar, proved the dry run. Having adjusted his radar, the Brazilian curled his second attempt beyond Mike Pollitt with enviable ease.

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Rob will be here from 2pm. In the meantime, here’s Andy Hunter on why Liverpool will be without both Steven Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani at Fulham today.

Liverpool have been forced to delay Alberto Aquilani’s eagerly anticipated Premier League debut and may send Steven Gerrard for surgery next week should he fail to make their critical Champions League tie in Lyon.

Gerrard will be absent for the third time in four matches due to a persistent groin problem when Rafael Benítez’s side face Fulham. The Liverpool manager remains hopeful his captain can avoid an operation and has not ruled the midfielder out of Wednesday’s European tie when qualification for the knockout phase will be under serious threat. Benítez conceded, however, that Gerrard may be left no option but to go under the knife should he miss the trip to Stade de Gerland.

“I’m not sure if he will need surgery,” said the Spaniard. “The physios are working very hard with him. He came from the international duty with the problem. We were working with him, we put him on the pitch, but still he felt something. Now we have to be careful because we don’t want to take any risks.

“If he cannot improve in a few days we will analyse again the situation. It’s a difficult situation and I don’t know exactly what it is. He has a pain in his groin. We are working with him and he has no power. It’s not because of the muscle, it’s because of the pain in the muscle so they are working there. Next week we have to decide. If he’s not doing well, we have to decide.”

Benítez admitted his captain was “a little bit low because he thought he could be better but he still has the same problem” but refused to discount Gerrard’s availability for France. “You never know. In one or two days he can improve,” the manager added.

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