The FA Premier League says it would have to approve any move for a Town player made under the 'club in distress' rule. Premiership sides can attempt to sign a Town player and play him this season due to the club being in administration.

A Premier League spokesman told the club site: "The rule is open to all 20 Premiership clubs and has been brought into place to help the clubs in administration.

"Andy Marriott became the first player to move under the rule when he joined Birmingham from Barnsley recently and he is free to play for his new club this season.

"But the transfer had to be cleared by a Premier League board and just because that deal was approved, there is no guarantee the next one would.

"The board would look at each case on its individual merits and examine all the evidence presented before making a decision."

The Premier League has also indicated that there is no specific deadline relating to the 'club in distress' rule. This appears to be contrary to the way the club has understood matters throughout this week.

Earlier today Town manager Joe Royle said that as of then no offers had been received referring to a deadline of Friday evening for 'club in distress purchases: "We've had no bids. We've had enquiries. As it stands at the moment we've got no imminent deals. There is interest in players and obviously there's still until tomorrow night if anybody wants to sign anybody to play this season."

The Premier League now seems to be indicating that the only deadline which can affect a deal is the Nationwide League transfer deadline of Thursday 27th March. However, TWTD understands that the Premier League would be unlikely to sanction deals when Premiership sides have less than eight games left to play.

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