BROMSGROVE Rovers' eagerly-awaited trip to Chris Waddle's Worksop Town in the FA Trophy hangs in the balance after an administrative mix-up.

Lancaster City lodged an official protest with the FA over their 1-0 round two defeat to Rovers after it emerged the Greens fielded three players wearing different shirt numbers to the team sheet.

The blunder means Rovers have been called to appear at FA headquarters in London on Monday morning to decide their fate -- the same day they are due to appear in court in Liverpool to face a winding up petition issued against them.

Rovers chief executive Pat Bannister conceded they made a mistake with the players' shirt numbers but denies Lancaster's claim that it was a deliberately deceptive ploy. Bannister and caretaker manager Eric McManus both missed the match because they were at Derby County discussing contract negotiations for Bannister's son, Patrick.

A SIMPLE ERROR

Bannister explained: "It was just a simple error and we can quite easily prove that. We phoned the team line up to fitness coach Paul Madders who was preparing the team. Paul wrote them down with the numbers but they were different to the ones we had noted and when the players picked up their normal shirts, three of them had the wrong numbers.

"Our secretary, Ray Barrow, noticed the problem when Matt Beard got booked in the first half and told the referee at half time. But the ref didn't tell us to change them and then told Lancaster the problem after the match had finished.

"Lancaster have sent us a nasty letter since claiming it was deliberate deception because they had watched us in previous games. With all due respect they would have known it was a different team because we were already without Richard Burgess, Nore Gabbidon, Phil Rowe and Quentin Townsend."

A fine is the most likely outcome of the FA showdown and Bannister has dismissed claims from the Lancashire outfit that the match should be replayed.

But Mike Sparks, Lancaster City secretary, rapped: "We want the match replayed because we deserve a fair crack of the whip."

In the meantime, Bannister reve-aled no-one has come forward with a bid to purchase Rovers after he withdrew his offer to buy the shares of former chairman Stuart Arnold. A new manager will not be named until a takeover has been finalised.