HURT skipper Craig Liddle last night admitted the Darlington squad are unlikely to take legal action following outspoken comments from the wife of chairman George Reynolds.

But the Professional Footballers' Association have refused to rule out legal action following Mrs Reynolds' stinging attack.

The PFA have labelled the remarks as "scandalous" and admit they are considering action.

Susan Reynolds, who is also a director of the club, hinted at Thursday's Fans' Forum at Feethams that the players may have thrown games.

Those comments prompted the full squad, who had been told to attend, to walk out of the club's Ambassador Suite led by David Brightwell and Liddle.

The centre-back, whose side take on Exeter City at St. James' Park this afternoon, has indicated the rest of Tommy Taylor's men will not meet to discuss events until Monday.

But Liddle, sidelined with an ankle injury today, said: "I would be very surprised if the lads wanted to take it any further.

"I'm sure they will just want to get on with their football."

The 30-year-old, however, still believes he was in the right to take his men out of the meeting with Mrs Reynolds still speaking.

"I take full responsibility for my actions," said Liddle. "As captain of the team I thought that I had to take them out.

"If we had all stayed in that room it could have turned into a slanging match in front of 350 people - that would have been wrong.

"George felt we were wrong to leave but I just felt that I did the right thing."

The inspirational Darlington defender was involved in clear-the-air talks with Mr Reynolds and boss Taylor yesterday, before the latter took his players to Exeter.

Liddle said: "The chairman thinks his wife has been misquoted and there will be a meeting with the players early next week.

"But whatever has been said has been said and we want to get on with playing football."

PFA spokesman, Brendan Batson, said: ''We are very upset about it and we know that the players got up en bloc and walked out.

''We would be looking to get some sort of apology from Darlington as a board because we cannot have this situation.

''These players have been defamed. It is scandalous that somebody who is a director of a club can accuse their own players of throwing a game."

Should the PFA decide to take things further, nothing is expected to happen until after the match at Exeter.

It was originally feared the players might refuse to take on the Grecians, but they travelled to the south west yesterday aiming for their first win in seven games.

Batson indicated a decision on what to do next will depend on what the Darlington playing staff want to do.

''We will have to listen to what the players have to say first. They were very upset by this," said Batson.

Meanwhile, the Football Association have also revealed they are looking into the matter, but insist they have not had time to discuss events in great detail.

The FA would not rule out action and Press officer Alex Stone said last night: "We are aware of the comments made by Mrs Reynolds and those have been passed on and will be dealt with internally.

"There will certainly be no decision reached in the next couple of days. We are not saying anything further on the matter as it is going to be dealt with internally.

"With incidents like these we always have to look at them closely, but it would be wrong for me to speculate on any outcome."

The Football League were taking a neutral stance and indicated they did not want to involve themselves in the matter.

"I think this is just a club matter and it should stay as such," said spokesman John Nagle.

"These were comments just made at a club function and they are opinion-based rather than anything else."

Despite Darlington being a club in crisis, Mr Reynolds has vowed to continue in his role as chairman at Feethams, regardless of events, and he is hoping to turn the club into a "profitable" company.

The multi-millionaire, who saved the club from bankruptcy in 1999, is in the process of building a new 25,000 all-seater stadium, which is due to be the club's home from the start of next season.

* Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric yesterday backed down over his threat to withhold payment to his playing and coaching staff after a meeting with two Pompey players and club consultant Peter Storrie.

Club spokesman Peter Jeffs said: ''The precise situation is that the cheque to the bank that pays the wages is being released later this afternoon.

''Contrary to any other reports it's the club's money and it's being paid as it would have been ordinarily.

''The meeting between Milan and the players has been concluded and as far as we're concerned that's the matter closed.''

Manager Graham Rix has been caught up in the storm as he prepares his side for a crucial Division One game at Walsall today.

The match that could have a massive impact upon both Pompey's season and his own future.

But the former Chelsea assistant boss has praised his players for their professionalism and dedication during training.

He said: ''The players are as good as gold. It's a big game for us and that's been the only thing on our mind.

''Our spirit is excellent and everything is concentrated towards the game.

''We know it's a game that we need to win and that's all we're interested in.

"Everything else is being talked about by everyone else but not by us.''