Administrator Mark Fry believes Portsmouth should seriously consider administration or face the risk of being liquidated. The debt-ridden club are desperately trying to find a new buyer, but Fry think they have an unrealistic timescale to complete a deal.

Fry, of Begbies Traynor Group, found a new buyer for Southampton when they entered administration last year and he is convinced administration is now their only logical course of action.

Administration would almost certainly mean relegation to the Championship this season and he believes that option is preferential to ceasing to exist at all.

"They have got a reprieve and almost a special privilege," said Fry.

"They've been very lucky and need to use the time wisely.

"But trying to get a sale away in the timeframe they have, with that level of debt and with the risk of relegation as well, is a massively tall order.

"If I was them I would be thinking very much down the administration route to gain some protection and time to find something that will probably be far more constructive.

"Administration has certainly got to be a better bet than liquidation, which is the real risk at the moment. My feeling is that Portsmouth escaped on Wednesday afternoon.

"The judge was particularly lenient because, if it was proved the club was insolvent, a winding-up order should have been made."