TEESSIDE businessman Raj Singh should officially take control of Hartlepool United within the next 24 hours after the terms of a deal was agreed today.

Singh and the cash-strapped club’s chief benefactor John Blackledge reached a compromise on a deal after a stumbling block on Tuesday had threatened to derail a takeover.

The legal documents of the takeover are yet to be signed but the two parties intend to work through the night to get things wrapped up so that the struggling National League club can look to finally move forward.

Singh, the former Darlington chairman, is still looking to bring more people in to form part of a consortium along with Sky Sports’ Hartlepool supporting presenter Jeff Stelling.

But, with Hartlepool preparing to go into a huge televised National League relegation battle with Barrow tonight, the players and staff have received the good news that a takeover had edged closer.

Speaking before the game, Pools chairwoman Pam Duxbury said: "The heads of terms have been agreed. The finer legal process is to be agreed and both sets of legal teams are expected to be working through the night to get things finalised.”

Now the challenge facing Singh and Blackledge and their respective lawyers is to get the takeover concluded before Thursday’s 5pm deadline for transfers in the National League.

There has been a transfer embargo hanging over Hartlepool - which will not be lifted until league chiefs are satisfied - and the would-be new owners would ideally like to bring in some new faces to help in the battle to avoid relegation.

Singh is likely to appoint former Hartlepool manager Craig Hignett as the club’s director of football and, speaking on Wednesday morning, the former Middlesbrough forward confirmed to The Northern Echo that they now “expect a deal to go through in the next few days.”

There had been major fears on Tuesday that Singh’s attempts to buy Hartlepool had come to an end after hitting a major stumbling block.

But a fresh round of discussions between Singh and Blackledge, whose Sage Investments own Pools, look to have saved the day.

“We are all working working hard behind the scenes to get the deal done,” said Hignett earlier in the day.

“Negotiations hit a snag last night (Tuesday) but Raj and John have chatted again this morning and we now expect a deal to be concluded within days.”

It is known that Singh and Blackledge were close to reaching agreement prior to the late stumbling block – of which the details remain unclear and private at this stage.

Singh and Stelling have been trying to get a deal done for weeks and have had numerous discussions with potential investors interested in getting involved.

As things stand it will be just that pair taking on the challenge of restoring Hartlepool to a finer financial state, and one of the first challenges will be to pay staff wages due on Friday.

Caretaker manager Matthew Bates will be in charge at Barrow, having overseen a couple of draws in recent games which has highlighted the players are fighting for him and to keep the club up.

A defeat at Barrow would see Hartlepool drop into the National League’s relegation zone after Solihull Moors wiped out the three-point gap by defeating Bromley. The teams have the same goal difference.

Hignett, a long term friend of Singh’s, will head up the club’s football operations once things have been signed and sealed.

After managing to lift the spirits within the camp at Victoria Park, Bates will be given the chance to stake a claim for the job himself by keeping Hartlepool out of National League North.

Hartlepool head for a vital match at Barrow knowing that their opponents sit just one place above them and level on points; the same number of points as Solihull Moors below them.

Singh, meanwhile, is the owner of Stockton-based Prestige Group. His business interests include residential care homes, a construction company and investment properties. 

The 53-year-old was the former vice-chairman of Darlington who assumed full control of the Quakers in May 2009 just months after the were put into administration by George Houghton.

He was in control when Darlington won the FA Trophy at Wembley in 2011 but sevent months later he had to cut his losses and the club fell into administration once more.

Singh will hope to have learned from those days and together with Stelling and Hignett, who remains well liked having lost his his job as manager at Victoria Park when the problems started in January last year, they will be looking to bring brighter times back to Hartlepool.