SKY TV's money is the one and only reason the Premiership has been such a success over the last 13 years.

But the way its money is distributed is doing nothing for the development of the country's fresh young talent.

On Monday Wanderers will play a Manchester City side which, with little to play for, should be blooding some of its highly-rated youngsters.

Manager Kevin Keegan, however, said he will not give the kids a chance yet because cash-strapped City need to finish as high up the table as possible because they need the financial benefits.

Clubs get an extra £500,000 of Sky's prize money for every place they finish in the Premiership.

With the middle of the table so tight, there is millions at stake for the 12 clubs between fourth top and fourth bottom.

That cash carrot can be a financial lifeline for clubs but it does nothing for the progress of their kids.

Young players can only benefit from the experience of playing in the first team. The way Sky's money is distributed is preventing that from happening which cannot be good for the future of the game.

A simple alternative is to distribute the Sky money evenly between all 20 clubs. Not only would that encourage the blooding of young players, it would also help to redress the problem of the rich clubs getting richer while the poorer ones fall further behind.