Portsmouth have been dealt another blow after their application to have a winding up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs struck out was dismissed by a High Court judge.
The club has argued that the VAT portion of its massive tax bill is too high by £7.5million, but failed to convince Mr Justice Newey of this on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office said: "At the High Court today Mr Justice Newey dismissed an application from Portsmouth City (sic) Football Club Limited for a winding up petition to be struck out. A further hearing to consider HMRC's winding up petition will take place in due course."
That hearing is now expected on February 10, and the outcome could send Portsmouth a step closer to being the first Barclays Premier League club to drop into administration.
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