London Irish have been given "a lot of assurances" by prospective new owners despite April's wages going unpaid, says director of rugby Declan Kidney.

Kidney admits "there are concerns" about the situation but the squad are focused on Saturday's visit of Exeter.

"You wouldn't notice any difference in how people are approaching this match," he added.

"The whole organisation of 130 people that work here are fantastic people to work with.

"I can't speak highly enough of the quality of players, in terms of their application and positivity. Everybody is getting on with the job and preparations are in full swing.

"This is a really important match for us, and as such I haven't had to pick them up because of the people they are."

The takeover of Irish has been protracted, and wages were due to be paid to employees on Monday - with the delay in payment being attributed to a bank holiday, new company bank accounts, and money being transferred from the United States.

The players were told on Tuesday they would be paid that day, but funds had still not arrived on Wednesday.

Given what has already happened in the Premiership this season, with Wasps and Worcester going out of business, Kidney says players could be forgiven for having a sense of foreboding.

However, he insists he has been given no indication that the players would not be prepared to play on Saturday if their salaries do not arrive.

"You wouldn't be human if there weren't different things going through your mind," he said.

"But I can't reiterate strongly enough how good everyone is in working towards the match. I know we are a professional team but these lads are about way more than money, they have been working away all week and I haven't had to pick them up.

"We have been given a lot of assurances from the prospective new ownership that [payment] will happen over the coming days.

"I think you can draw too many comparisons between us and other teams, and I think it would be wrong to do that.

"It's unfortunate but we trust the owners and prospective owners will come to a positive resolution for everybody involved here."