WANDERERS have brought in football’s Mr Fix It, Trevor Birch, to help with negotiations on new ownership.

It has been confirmed that with chairman Phil Gartside seriously ill, the 57-year-old Liverpudlian known for assisting football clubs with high debt will act as an advisor to the board on financial issues.

Birch’s vast experience includes a role as administrator at Portsmouth in 2012, and at Leeds United in 2004 where he helped the club avoid administration.

He also restructured Chelsea’s finances in 2002 to help pave the way for Roman Abramovic’s mega money takeover at Stamford Bridge and has advised Everton, Derby County, Sheffield United and Southampton on similar matters in various boardroom roles.

Vice chairman Brett Warburton confirmed yesterday via a club statement that owner Eddie Davies would not be able to supply any further funding.

But he believes that Birch’s appointment could enable one of a number of parties, thought to include Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield Consortium, to broker a successful deal.

He said: “Trevor is a football man who has great experience in dealing with clubs in difficult financial situations. We welcome his support in assisting us through this difficult period.

“Our current owner Eddie Davies is fully supportive of the appointment and will work closely with Trevor.

“Eddie has provided an incredible level of financial support which has brought the club great success and meant huge enjoyment to all fans. We all owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

“Unfortunately, since relegation, we haven’t been able to turn things around on the pitch and regain promotion despite running a very high player wage bill. As the Premier League parachute funding disappears we need to find further funding to replace it.

“Eddie has indicated that he can’t provide any further funding and we have therefore been working hard to attract the appropriate investment to take this club forward.”

Isle of Man-based owner Davies has pressed for a speedy resolution to talks as Wanderers teeter in the relegation zone of the Championship just a month-and-a-half away from the transfer window.

Neil Lennon was told last week that no more funds would be made available for transfers in the short-term – which led to the collapse of a loan deal for Wolves winger Rajiv van la Parra.