BLACKBURN Rovers bosses are unsure how many of their players have fulfilled a pledge to give a day's pay to nurses.

It came after it was revealed that the Mayday for Nurses appeal had collected just a quarter of the £750,000 pledged by 255 Premiership footballers.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which agreed to administer the fund, has been unable to collect all of the donations.

Out of last season's Premiership, the 23 Rovers players backed the campaign, making the club the fifth highest contributing. Fulham and Watford were top with 28 players from each team donating.

But the charity is understood to have been left with only sparse contact details and is even without the names of many of the players who donated.

The fund was the brainchild of economist Noreena Hertz who was inspired by nurses who cared for her terminally ill mother.

A Blackburn Rovers spokesman said he could not be sure how many of the 23 players had come forward with their cash, especially as many were currently away on international duty.

An RCN spokeswoman said: "Although the actual levels of donations received are yet to meet expectations based on the initial pledges, the Mayday for Nurses campaign has successfully raised a substantial sum of money which will allow the RCN to help hundreds of nurses in financial hardship.

"Money is still coming in, but it reached a level that we thought it was appropriate to launch the fund and start making awards to nurses."

The RCN, which administers the fund alongside their own, said it had only received about £200,000 so far although money was still coming in.

The charity said it was still trying to resolve the matter with Dr Hertz.

The fund is open to applications from registered nurses in the UK who are experiencing hardships, such as ill health or those needing to pay for childcare after relationship break-up.