League Two outfit Notts County are due to appear in court on Monday following a winding-up order from HMRC over an unpaid tax bill.

County - the world's oldest professional football club - have been up for sale since February when owner Ray Trew announced that he was quitting the side.

According to a report in The Mirror, the club have debts of more than £500,000 and required help from the Football League in order to make sure that players were paid their wages last month.

"Our petition will be settled ahead of the hearing and that's all there is to it," Trew told the newspaper. "Firstly I want to know why this is even worthy of column inches when this is not news at all. Hartlepool and Bury have recently been in the High Court and this didn't warrant a story, so why is Notts County a story?

"The only story you need to write about is why there are so many football clubs being issued with winding-up petitions by HMRC. If you search the London Gazette and indeed the court listings you will see the likes of Morecambe, Southend and Bolton have all in the last week or so been issued with petitions.

"The fact is HMRC do not treat football clubs like they do other businesses and you will need to speak to them or the Treasury as to the reasons why, but my feeling is we are low-hanging fruit."

Local businessman Alan Hardy is in discussions with Trew over a potential takeover, although the talks are thought to have stalled amid a disagreement over Trew's £6m valuation.