Portsmouth Football Club are set to enter administration for the second time in as many years.
Issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs on 3 January, the Championship club were due at the Royal Courts of Justice on 20 February.
Pompey face a 10-point deduction, which would leave them 21st in the table.
"An application to court seeking administration is due to go in any day," said Peter Kubik, from Pompey's financial advisors UHY Hacker Young.
"The club's bank accounts have been frozen due to the winding-up hearing and they are finding it very difficult to trade.
"Once the administration order is in place the bank accounts will be made accessible again.
"We are aware that administration carries an automatic 10-point deduction by the Football League."
Pompey became the first Premier League side to enter administration in February 2010 , following which they were relegated to the Championship.
And, if they do suffer a 10-point penalty again, they would be thrust right into another relegation battle, kept out of the drop zone only on goal difference.
On Monday, it emerged that Portsmouth had received their parachute payment from the Premier League early , but it appears that will not be sufficient to save them from going into administration for a second time.
Pompey's parent company, Convers Sports Initiatives, entered administration in November, forcing the Championship club to search for new owners.
CSI administrator Andrew Andronikou then revealed that Pompey had missed two tax payments of £800,000 to HMRC.
It later emerged that they currently owe HMRC £1.9m in unpaid tax as well as between £4m to £7m from the previous regime.
"There are lots of bills they need to pay," added Kubik.
The club announced in January that their players and staff had not been paid their wages for that month, as a result of having their bank account frozen.
They later failed to gain a validation order to gain access to their accounts, leaving players and staff at Fratton Park still waiting to be paid.
Former owner Balram Chainrai last week said he was flying to the UK to sort out the stricken club's future.
The Hong Kong-based businessman, who owned the club with Israeli Levi Kushnir through a company called Portpin, is still owed £17m.
BBC South understands that any new purchaser would need to provide £12m as proof of funds, and assurances they could meet another £20m in repayments to former creditors, Chainrai and Alexandre Gaydamak.
However, the Portsmouth Supporters' Trust have claimed that Andronikou is asking them to provide £100m in proof of funds before any meeting between them could take place.
