Hymas and Saunders offer Stags a deal over cash row

The pair are demanding repayment of almost £1m in directors’ loans from their time at the helm of the club, but current owner John Radford has said the club cannot afford to pay them right now, which has resulted in the threatened court action.

Radford has also said manager Paul Cox cannot bring in new players in the current transfer window as all funds are now needed to fight the expected court case.

However, Hymas and Saunders have already said they do not want to see the club come to any harm and are very happy to negotiate a drip-feed repayment.

Today, the pair issued a statement, stating: “After further meetings and in response to the recent statement made by Mansfield Town Football Club, Steve Hymas and Andrew Saunders would like to put out the following statement.

“We have been informed the club is now being run by Steve Middleton and Andrew Sutton and, as fellow Mansfield Town supporters, we would like to make the following offer to bring to a conclusion the ensuing court case.

“We are prepared to accept £24k per year each, which will be payable monthly, and payouts only to commence at the start of the 2014/2015 season.

“This will allow the club to stabilise its position in the Football League and work this into future budgets, helping to reduce ongoing debts, which can only be a benefit to the club.

“It has never been our intention to bring this into the public domain ad we have never sought to damage the long term future of the club.”