Chairman Gordon Gibb today said he was ready to provide Bradford City with a "significant" financial injection to help the club through its latest cash crisis.

Mr Gibb (pictured) held showdown talks with creditor Lombards North Central yesterday to thrash out new terms on the £6.3 million the club owes on its Sunwin Stand mortgage. The City boss had feared the firm would refuse to renegotiate the terms of its mortgage after the club failed to pay its latest £350,000 instalment due last week.

But today he said the talks had been "cordial" and he was optimistic a deal could be agreed. The City board will now draw up an alternative repayments plan to present to Lombard - possibly doubling the period of repayments from six to 12 years.

But Mr Gibb said any new deal would involve him giving personal guarantees to back up the mortgage, which is currently guaranteed by fellow directors Julian and David Rhodes. "There is going to have to be a further injection into the club," he said. "It will put me in a more exposed position than I ever imagined but it is the only solution which could save the club."

Mr Gibb admitted he was pleased with yesterday's talks. "But that doesn't necessarily mean we've secured a conclusion," he said. "The real crunch will come when we have made our business plan presentation to Lombard and asked for what we think is an appropriate restructuring."

The chairman, who owns the Flamingo Land theme park in North Yorkshire, refused to say how much his new guarantees would be worth but said it represented a "significant investment".

And he pleaded with City fans to help ease the club's financial constraints by turning up in force for the home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

"The negative feeling left over from what happened in the summer has manifested itself most seriously with the fans," he said. "The fall in attendance has left a £750,000 hole in our cash flow. I don't think the fans realise how very, very important they are to us at this time."