Wolverhampton Wanderers reserve striker Chris Cornes will find out today whether he still has a future at Molineux after testing positive for a banned substance.

The Worcester-born teenager has been given a sixmonth ban by the Football Association after traces of cocaine showed up in a random test taken at the club's Compton Park training ground in February.

Wolves now have to decide whether to cancel the 19-year-old's three-year contract. Chief executive Jez Moxey said: "Players know the rules and it is constantly impressed upon them that they must act responsibly. Taking prohibited substances is totally unacceptable."

But the indication last night was that Cornes' insistence that he has not taken anything, coupled with the comparatively lenient punishment issued by the FA, may save him from the axe.

It is understood that only a minute trace of the substance showed up in the test, which Wolves asked to be retested. This caused the delay in bringing the matter into the public arena.

Cornes, a Molineux Academy graduate, signed his first three-year deal as a professional a year ago. Although yet to make a first-team appearance, he made a favourable impression on

Teenage Wolves striker is banned for six months loan at Port Vale last autumn and it was only this episode that prevented him making a first-team breakthrough late last season when Wolves needed new attacking options.

Given the way the managerless Coca-Cola Championship club have been stripped to the bones, Cornes would have had a role this season. With the ban backdated to April 13, when Wolves imposed their own internal suspension, he would be back in contention by mid-October if allowed to stay.