Four Inverness Caley Thistle players made redundant

Four Inverness Caledonian Thistle players have been made redundant but there have been three expressions of interest in taking over the club, say administrators BDO.

Non-playing staff remain in place while striker Billy Mckay and first-team coach Scott Kellacher have taken over the running of the team following the sacking of Duncan Ferguson on Wednesday.

The Scottish League One club were put into administration on Tuesday because of their financial problems and have been automatically deducted 15 points as a result.

They are now 12 points adrift at the bottom of the table and facing relegation to League Two just eight years after they were in the top flight.

Regardless of which division they are in next season, they will start on minus five points.

Businessman Alan Savage, a former chairman of the 30-year-old club, has committed to ensuring Caley Thistle have enough funds to continue for the rest of this season.

Savage called on public agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Highland Council to become involved and hoped local businesses would also come forward with investment.

He said the club were seeking to get a restaurant chain to take over the Highlander Suite at Caley Thistle's stadium.

Administrator James Stephen, who was involved with Rangers and Heart of Midlothian when they went into administration, said actin taken this week had given Inverness some breathing space.

"There is a reasonable period of stability - months rather than weeks. Alan has said he would not let the club run out of cash," said BDO's Stephen.

BDO are working to "secure the long term future" of the Highland club by attempting to find new owners but if that fails, assets could be sold and the money raised distributed to creditors.

Talks were held last week with businessman David Anderson about a takeover but they ended without agreement.

Losses ran to £1.2m last season and the club have forecast a similar deficit this campaign - but that figure does not include money spent on restructuring following relegation from the Championship last season.

Former Dundee United, Rangers, Everton and Newcastle forward Ferguson - who was "always been against administration" - said on Wednesday that he and two of his coaches had been let go.