Southend United's outgoing boss Ron Martin has revealed he expects the club to be sold by the middle of May after ongoing delays and a fresh petition to "wind up" the club.

The Blues chairman and a consortium led by Australian businessman Justin Rees exchanged contracts before Christmas.

However, the takeover has been held up by Southend Council’s due diligence along with the consent of "the finance partner" of Ron Martin.

Now, Mr Martin has told BBC Essex the process is "moving in the right direction" and he is 99 per cent sure the club will be sold by mid-May, with his bank needing to sign off a repayment agreement.

He said: "I think that’s realistic. Justin knows that and we’re all working to the same programme. No one is delaying anything, to the contrary in fact the longer it goes on the more it costs me."

The delay has led to Stewarts Law, which claimed to be a creditor of the club, issuing a winding up petition against the club. An Insolvency and Companies Court date has been set for April 17.

The consortium have already invested £3million into saving the Shrimpers but are not willing to pay off historic creditors until the deal is completely done. 

Mr Martin added that he believes Stewarts had "jumped the gun" but aims to settle with them before the court hearing. 

He also apologised to fans and staff for the "tough time" they have been through, and assured that he believes next year will be a great season for the club.

During the opening few months of the season, the Blues was deducted 10 points after failing to pay off an HMRC debt before a deadline set by the National League.

"I am sorry for the fans, it has been a tough time for them but my focus, as always, was making sure we did get to that safe harbour and passed the baton to someone else who was well funded," he told the programme.