Five senior players have been frozen out of first team training by manager Mark Hughes.

Jay Bothroyd, Luke Young, DJ Campbell, Rob Hulse and Tommy Smith were all ordered to train away from the rest of the first team squad.

Along with bad boy Joey Barton, who has been told he can move on, the quintet were not allocated squad numbers as boss Mark Hughes made it clear they were surplus to his requirements.

Smith joined Cardiff on Friday but the other ­quartet are still on the payroll and unhappy at their treatment.

A source close to the players told the Sunday Mirror: "They find the way they have been treated disrespectful. They have not been a moment's trouble to the club. They cannot understand what is going on and why this has happened."