ICE Hockey Superleague secretary Brian Storey has vowed the league will not give in in the continued wages dispute at the Newcastle Jesters.

The side's first league game of the season is scheduled for Sunday, September 2, with a pre-season friendly arranged for two days before that.

But last season's squad have still not been paid three months' wages, totalling around £150,000, and the league still has in place a ban on the club registering players for the coming season.

And Jonathan Stobart, finance director at the club's owners, the Eye Group, say it will now be Monday at the earliest before the dispute can be resolved, leaving the Jesters only 11 days to get a squad together.

With potential delays for work permits and international trade cards, director of hockey Glenn Mulvenna will be pushed to have the squad settled on Tyneside in time.

And Mr Storey insisted on Friday: "We will not be lifting the ban until such time as the players are paid - and they must be paid, we don't just want promises."

Mr Stobart said he is waiting for Mark Wagner, lawyer for the Ice Hockey Players' Association, which must receive the cash, to return from his holidays on Monday to complete the transaction.

Read more about Newcastle Jesters here.