PRESTON have been forced to cut costs in a bid to survive life post-ITV Digital.

North End's commerical manager, Ross McWilliam was the first to get the chop this week, and now a question mark hangs over the future of North End's academy.

It is run by Gary Peters, the former North End boss who guided the team to the Division Three title in 1997.

And the club have refused to rule out any further cuts as they try to work out how they will cope with the £40,000 a week defecit brought on by the collapse of ITV Digital earlier this year.

Although Sky have come in with a new deal, it is nothing like what ITV Digital were supposed to pay.

North End have already abandoned plans to rebuild the Pavilion End stand, the only one not yet to be redeveloped.

But they are not the worst-off in the division by any means.

Other clubs have had to stop paying players, while local rivals Burnley have admitted anyone is up for sale should the price be right.

Preston have also to fully utilise cash from the sales of Jon Macken and Sean Gregan, while compensation is still knocking around for physio Mick Rathbone, who has joined Everton.

Chief executive Tony Scholes now says his side are determined to make the most of the transfer window imposed on Premiership and foreign players.

Between now and January, Craig Brown and his scouts will be scouring Europe and beyond for the bargains which no-one else has spotted.

Meanwhile North End have appointed Andrew Balderston as a the new club physio. He was previously physio at Macclesfield Town.

Chairman Derek Shaw said: "We have heard glowing reports of Andrew's ability and are confident we have found a man capable of taking on the difficult role of replacing Mick Rathbone."