ACCRINGTON Stanley chief executive Rob Heys is confident that the club will be able to make real progress off the field once the Reds’ ownership situation is resolved – with potential sponsors already expressing an interest.

Stanley, who travel to Aldershot today, are unable to put long term plans into action as they wait for the finalisation of a deal between Ilyas Khan, Dave O’Neill and Eric Whalley over the ownership of the club.

Whalley agreed to relinquish his major shareholding a month ago, with the stake due to pass into the hands of O’Neill as part of a takeover initially agreed in 2009.

O’Neill is set to agree a settlement to immediately pass on those shares and cut his ties with the club, but negotiations between Khan and Stanley’s managing director have taken longer than some had hoped.

Stanley have been hit by financial problems in recent weeks and are without their two major sponsors – previous stadium sponsor Fraser Eagle went into administration in 2009 and shirt sponsor Combined Stabilisation went into liquidation earlier this year.

The Reds have also been unable to conduct contract negotiations with their current squad for next season.

But Heys expects progress to be swift once the ownership saga is at an end – with Khan, who has helped out with cash on several occasions since saving the club from winding up proceedings two years ago, also indicating that he may be willing to provide extra funds to pay outstanding bills.

“That's the intention,” said Heys.

“I think things will all kick into place once we can go out to the people of Accrington and beyond and say that everything is sorted, and this is the way we are going forward.

“Sponsorship, season tickets, players signing new contracts, it will be amazing how quickly all that clicks into place.

“We’ve got a couple of people who are interested in sponsorship but they are all keen for everything to be sorted out.”