Blackwell happy to spend Bates' cash

Leeds boss Kevin Blackwell will have no qualms about spending his transfer budget, if and when new chairman Ken Bates provides him with one.

Blackwell has so far held only preliminary discussions with Bates over the way forward at Elland Road where the 73-year-old former Chelsea patriarch has acquired a controlling stake on the back of his estimated £10m (€14.4m) investment in a club burdened by debts of £24.5m (€35.2m).