THE Swedish consortium which hopes to secure control of Hartlepool United is confident of being successful in their quest.

While the consortium of Raj Singh and Jeff Stelling appears in pole position to take over at Victoria Park, foreign ownership cannot be ruled out.

Pools were put up for sale on December 22 and since then only one party has even got close to buying the club. But Chris Musgrave pulled out amid concerns over the financial state of the business.u

An offer from Scandinavia is with current owner John Blackledge, who stopped funding the club late last year and is owed around £1.8m.

The Stelling / Singh consortium has agreed an exit deal for Blackledge, based on payments being made dependent on future successes and a return to the Football League.

The former Darlington chairman and Pools’ current president are still seeking additional investment and the possibility of the Swedes joining forces has been mooted. Stelling is welcome to the idea and he has also welcomed the efforts of the club’s Supporters’ Trust to raise enough funds to have a say in the future.

However, the Swedes are understood to prefer to take charge themselves. They have a number of extremely wealthy backers as part of their consortium.

Daniel Kindberg, the chairman of Ostersunds, is part of their set-up, but there are bigger players than him involved.

Time, however, is running out for all parties. Wages are due to be paid next week and there is no funds within the club. It is understood that the club’s tax liabilities from last month’s wages were not paid.

Chairwoman Pam Duxbury remains in charge at Victoria Park and is trying to fend off the threat of administration.

Pools go to Flyde on Saturday and then Barrow next Wednesday in a game televised live on BT Sport. Clubs in the National League receive only a paltry fee from the broadcaster, barely enough to cover the club’s travelling expenses.

Meanwhile, Pools centre-half Liam Donnelly will miss the Barrow game, after being called up again for Northern Ireland Under-21s. They face Spain and Iceland in qualifying games for the 2019 European Championships.

Pools game with Bromley a week on Saturday is postponed. Bromley last night beat Spennymoor to reach the last four of the FA Trophy and they will now meet Gateshead in the first leg instead of visiting Victoria Park.