Fears that Portsmouth players would not be paid on time for a second successive month were allayed last night, despite the Premier League enforcing a transfer embargo on the troubled South Coast club.

The Premier League acted because Portsmouth still owe money on the moves that brought Glen Johnson, the England right back, to Fratton Park from Chelsea in August 2007 and Lassana Diarra, the midfield player, from Arsenal in January last year.

Portsmouth’s players believed that the financial worries of the club had ended after it was taken over by Ali al-Faraj, a Saudi property investor, this month. Al-Faraj took control after the chaotic and short-lived reign of Sulaiman al-Fahim.

It was the arrival of al-Faraj that prompted the players to be paid for September, albeit six days late. The action of the Premier League had raised the fear yesterday of another delay in their wages.

However, a Fratton Park source was adamant last night that Paul Hart’s squad would receive their monthly salaries tomorrow. “They will get paid,” the source said. “It is not a problem.” It is understood that some members of the club staff have been paid already, dampening suggestions of another serious cash-flow problem.

Portsmouth believe that the League embargo will be lifted quickly, possibly as early as the end of this week. That the instalments to Chelsea and Arsenal were late was more because of the new regime having to restructure the payments of its “inherited debt” rather than lack of funds.

An instalment was due to Watford for the move of Tommy Smith, the striker, to Portsmouth for a fee of £1.8 million two months ago. It was settled last week. Arsenal are due an instalment on the £5.5 million fee paid for Diarra, who has since moved on to Real Madrid for £20 million; Chelsea are also due a payment on the £4 million agreed for Johnson, who has since joined Liverpool for £18 million. The sums involved are believed to be in the region of “tens of thousands” of pounds, not millions.

The embargo prevented Hart from registering Eugen Bopp to play in the Carling Cup fourth-round tie against Stoke City at Fratton Park on Tuesday night, which Portsmouth won 4-0. Bopp, a Ukraine-born German national, is a free agent, having been released by Crewe Alexandra at the end of last season. The midfield player has been training with Portsmouth since the summer.

In a statement, the Premier League said yesterday: “We have placed a player registration embargo on Portsmouth. It was imposed on October 15, 2009 and it means the club will be unable to bring any new players to Fratton Park until further notice.”

Portsmouth’s tangled ownership had plunged to farcical levels, with al-Faraj the latest figure cloaked in mystery to assume control. He bought 90 per cent of the club from al-Fahim, the former owner, after al-Fahim had failed to raise the money needed to pay the players’ September wages.

However, further questions have since been asked about the club’s finances after Levi Kushnir, the Israeli mogul, and Balram Chainrai, a Hong Kong-based businessman, emerged as potential investors. They have been linked with making a £15 million loan, which would be secured against Portsmouth’s assets. Al-Fahim’s investment group, Al-Fahim Asia Associates Ltd, completed its takeover of the club in August but his brief time in charge was beset by financial problems.

Hart has remained resolute amid the off-field machinations but Portsmouth have struggled this season. They lie bottom of the Barclays Premier League, with only one win in ten matches, but the victory over Stoke will have raised morale.

“The gaffer [Hart] has been top class,” Danny Webber, one of the goalscorers against Stoke, said. “I think lesser people would have crumbled with what has been going on here. He has kept the camp very happy and very motivated. He has kept the belief going that we can get out of the situation we are in. If anything, the belief has got stronger with the more adversity we have had to deal with.”