County need injection of £25m to avoid Eriksson exit

If Notts County's desperate search for a new backer fails it will spell the end of Sven Goran Eriksson's ill-fated tenure at the League Two club, according to Peter Trembling, the club's executive chairman.

County have been served with a second winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs and need to find funds to pay off their tax demands by 27 January, the court date set for HMRC to seek to place the club in administration.

Trembling, who led a management buyout of Munto Finance last month, says the club are in talks with three prospective investors, one of them believed to be the Norwegian telecommunications company Ludo.

"There was always going to be a two-scenario process," said Trembling. "Somebody would either come in with a lower investment of £3m-5m just to keep the club sustainable, but the reality is in order to keep Sven here, and Sven's plan all along has been to take the club into the Premier League, we need a minimum of £25m investment.

"The three serious investors we are talking to at the moment are of that ilk. We need one of them to get over the line and I expect that to happen. It would be a huge disappointment if it doesn't because we are some way down the process and if we don't get serious investors, Sven will leave."