The duke will tour the new academy site

Sunderland's Academy of Light has had to win through two planning inquiries following protests.

Residents close to the site in nearby Whitburn, along with environmentalists forced the two public inquiries.

But Sunderland bosses, who have asked to defer player wages to stave off going into administration, say the academy is good news for the club.

On Tuesday Prince Andfrew officially opened the acedemy and met players and manager Mick McCarthy.

The club confirmed on Sunday that it was in talks with the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) about the possibility of asking Mick McCarthy's squad to accept a deferral of part of their wages.

The club insist that the proposal is only one of a series of measures under discussion as chairman Bob Murray wrestles with debt problems in excess of �30m.

But the PFA has revealed that an agreement could be reached in principle within the next two days.

Phillips is one of the club's highest earners

"I'm waiting for the club to come back to me," said PFA deputy chief executive Mick McGuire.

"We've had meaningful discussions with Sunderland over the last three months.

"It's nothing new to us, what they're proposing. They realise that we need to go forward positively through a number of factors.

"The players were one, creditors were another, the banks were another, and so on.

"They all needed to fit in together to get that support from the players talking about a potential deferral of wages.

"The players would only do it if they knew they were going to get their money next year.

"We went up last week, myself and an insolvency lawyer, to speak to the club for two or three days and they came through with a proposal.

Suffering relegation

"We amended it in various areas and then spoke to the players for about an hour. They were very supportive. They wanted one or two different amendments to the agreement, and I've advised the club of that.

"I'm now waiting for them to come back and am fully expecting in the next 48 hours this to be, in principle, agreed."

Sunderland find themselves in a financial predicament after suffering relegation to Division One at the end of last season.

Leicester and Ipswich went into administration after suffering the same fate.

But the Wearsiders are determined to stay afloat, even though their efforts to do so are being hampered by an ongoing struggle to offload some of their highest-earning players.