BURNLEY operational director Brendan Flood has blamed "player power" for the unplanned sale of leading scorer Andy Gray, but insisted all of the money would be given to manager Owen Coyle to strengthen his squad.

The Clarets stand to make at least £1.5million when Gray's move to Championship rivals Charlton Athletic officially goes through next week, after the striker signed an emergency loan deal on Friday to make him available for their game with Watford.

Flood said the club was disappointed to lose the 30-year-old, but felt they had little choice when Gray made it clear he wanted to go.

"The defining momeny for me was when Frank Gray, Andy's father and agent, was ringing me every half-hour on Thursday to try to persuade me to allow him to leave.

"At that point, there seemed little point in holding on to a player who clearly did not want to play for us any longer.

"This was clearly an unplanned sale of a player who was an integral part of our plans, but we have to move on.

"Every penny earned from Andy's sale, plus more, will be given to Owen to make us a better side."

He added: "There are issues in football which I am quickly begining to learn about.

"The players carry more clout than the board these days and if they decide they want to go elsewhere there is not a lot we can do about it."