Sunderland's promotion rivals set to take financial hit as Portsmouth man makes interesting transfer admission

And from transfer talk to finances, we take a look at some of the big stories from the third tier today:

Peterborough United set for financial hit after promotion

Having secured automatic promotion on Saturday after a thrilling 3-3 draw with Lincoln City, Peterborough United are preparing for life in the Championship.

And co-owner Darragh MacAnthony has revealed that the club will now have to shell out £1.2million – but he isn’t complaining.

“We will be paying out £1.2 million in bonuses to players, management staff and other clubs,” MacAnthony said, speaking on his Hard Truth podcast.

“The club thing is a good thing. I always throw in add ons when I buy players as I’m happy to spread the wealth among lower league clubs.

“Bristol Rovers will get a six-figure sum for us winning promotion from the terms of the Jonson Clarke-Harris deal and they’ll get £50k for him winning the League One Golden Boot. The Bristol Rovers chairman took time out to send me congratulations on winning promotion by the way. He’s a classy guy.

“And a team that’s just been relegated from the Football League will get £100k from us.”

Portsmouth man Ronan Curtis makes transfer admission

Ronan Curtis has admitted that he is aware of interest in his services from the Championship.

The winger has been linked with Blackburn Rovers, Brentford, Derby County and Reading – but says his short-term focus is simply on the race for the play-offs with Pompey.

"I know there is a lot of interest from clubs above us right now,” Curtis told The Sun.

"That's encouraging but all I'm concentrating on is helping Portsmouth to go up. Since Danny Cowley and his brother Nicky came in, they've been a huge help to me and to the rest of the squad.

"Danny always came across too 'nice' to be a manager. Having seen him bare his teeth on occasion, I now know I was wrong about that."

Lincoln City take lessons ahead of play-offs

Lincoln City were beaten 3-1 by Charlton Athletic last night and slipped down to fifth in League One.

But with their play-off place already secured, boss Michael Appleton rotated his side to see if any players could stake a claim for involvement in the end of season lottery.

So did any make their mark?

“Absolutely,” said Appleton, when asked by Lincolnshire Live.

"One or two did, one or two didn’t – that’s football.

“It’s about the players coming into the team – can they cope with big games, can they cope against a bit of physicality.

“One or two showed they could.”

“The most important thing is that we come out of the game with no injuries and that our so-called strongest XI are fit and ready for the 18th or 19th,” he added, when quizzed on the Imps’ final day clash with AFC Wimbledon.

“If we lose the game and don’t play as well as I would like, yes I would be disappointed, but the bigger picture is making sure we’ve got a fit and available squad for the play-offs.”

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