Stone hopes to resurrect career with Portsmouth

The Aston Villa midfielder Steve Stone is joining the First Division leaders Portsmouth on loan. The former England player will link up with his former Villa colleague Paul Merson at Fratton Park.

Stone, who was already a fringe player at Villa before the signing of the Ecuador wing-back Ulises de la Cruz from Hibernian in August, has not been a feature of Graham Taylor's plans during the current campaign. Indeed, the Villa manager had told Stone that he would not stand in the player's way at the end of last season if a club came in with the right offer.

Stone admitted that it had come as a shock to him when Taylor said he could leave but vowed to try and regain his senior spot with Villa. However, that hope has not materialised and now he is moving to the south coast with the aim of finally enjoying some first-team football with Harry Redknapp's team.

The former Nottingham Forest player will link up with Portsmouth today for a loan period lasting just over a month. He is due to report back to Villa on 2 December.

Taylor has put the accent more on youth since his return to the club last February and that has meant the likes of Stone and the long-serving full-back Alan Wright having little to look forward to but reserve-team football.

Stone cost £5m when he moved from the City Ground to Villa four years ago but in the current climate he would command only a fraction of that price if a permanent deal with Portsmouth eventually became a possibility.

Fabrizio Ravanelli has admitted that Derby County's financial problems are adversely affecting the players. The club are to ask players to accept a pay deferral until next August when the £6m parachute payment following relegation last season is due.

With Derby facing mounting debt and struggling to mount a serious promotion challenge, Ravanelli said: "There is tension in the changing room, I spoke yesterday to the other players and it is a worrying time."

Administrative staff have already been offered voluntary redundancies and those earning more than £20,000 were also asked to consider deferring a percentage of their salaries. However, the players are yet to discuss the issue formally and Ravanelli has heard nothing from the club's management.

"I have not been notified by the club but yesterday I was not at the club, we did hear the story from the press," the 33-year-old said.

However, the former Juventus player, the club's highest earner, is hoping that they can find a way out of their current financial problems. "It is a difficult situation for everyone that works for Derby, for the players, the chairman and the workers," he said. "We hope that we can resolve the situation as soon as possible."