An administrator has not yet been formally appointed at Dean Court

A second notice of intention to appoint an administrator has been accepted in court - giving them a further period of protection from their creditors.

Accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward are already working with the Dean Court club's board in an advisory capacity.

A club statement insisted: "It is not a foregone conclusion that the club will go down that (administration) route."

It was revealed last week that the Cherries had recently filed their first notice of intention to appoint an administrator, after taking professional advice.

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Chairman Jeff Mostyn said at the time that "this action was taken to prevent our current negotiations being frustrated by aggressive and unhelpful creditors".

Following the second notice, the club statement added: "This will allow the club a further period of time in which to bring our current negotiations to what we all hope will be a satisfactory conclusion in terms of securing the future of the football club."

Bournemouth are bottom of League One with only five league wins this season and have debts of around �4m, despite selling their stadium to London-based property company Structadene in December 2005 and leasing it back.

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.