Northampton Town have been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over outstanding payments.

The Cobblers were dealt a big blow earlier this week when an Indian consortium pulled out of a planned purchase of the club.

A 21-day deadline to pay back a loan from Northampton Borough Council is set to expire on Thursday afternoon, but chairman David Cardoza is confident that the matter can be resolved in due course.

"Talks have been ongoing with the Council," he said in a statement on the club's official website. "We are putting proposals to Northampton Borough Council regarding the repayment of the loan which we hope will prove satisfactory to them and that process is ongoing as we speak.

"I fully appreciate that, off the pitch, there only seems to be bad news for supporters at the moment but we are working towards, and we believe we are close to, a conclusion on all matters that tidies up all of the issues surrounding the club and allows it to move forward to a much brighter future."

On the subject of the sale of the club, Cardoza added: "Meetings have and are continuing this week and we are very close to reaching an agreement to one of a number of interested parties and we believe we will have some definite news very soon.

"The potential purchasers are well aware of all the issues, including the HMRC discussions."

Northampton are currently eighth in the League Two table.