An administrator has not yet been formally appointed at Dean Court

BDO Stoy Hayward are now working with the board in an advisory capacity, after the directors lodged a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.

But chairman Jeff Mostyn stressed in a club statement that "the club is not in administration and it is not a foregone conclusion that it will be".

Bournemouth are bottom of League One with only five league wins this season.

Mostyn added that "this action was taken to prevent our current negotiations being frustrated by aggressive and unhelpful creditors.

606: DEBATE Before long, there will be no need to play games - just deduct points from certain teams and give the trophies to the rich clubs backhome_hartlepool

"We were professionally advised to serve a Notice of Intention to appoint an administrator, which we have done."

The Dean Court club has debts of around �4m, despite selling their stadium to London-based property company Structadene in December 2005.

Mostyn and co-owner Steve Sly, who bought the club in March 2007 after nearly a decade under the ownership of a supporters' trust fund, have recently been in talks with new investors.

However, last month, Mostyn refused to rule out administration "if it was in the club's best interests".

Clubs entering administration are automatically deducted 10 points by the Football League - a move which would leave the Cherries in even deeper relegation trouble.

However, in June last year, the League closed a loophole that had allowed clubs on the brink of relegation to take the 10-point deduction when they were already almost certain to go down.