Leeds United are threatening to take the FA to an independent arbitrator over the 15-point deduction imposed on the League One club.

The Football League imposed the penalty after the club came out of administration in the summer.

Leeds' appeal to the FA was turned down and since then they have been pushing for their case to be removed from the FA and decided by the High Court.

They have now said that if the game's governing body does not agree, the club will take matters further.

In a statement, Leeds said it will ask for a three-man arbitration panel to be set up consisting of nominations from the club and the FA with an independent chairman with a legal background.

The FA have already considered Leeds' demands that they should have the 15-point penalty rescinded but found "there was no reason to review the Football League's handling of the case."

Meanwhile, Tore Andre Flo is relieved to be back in action and looking forward to helping Leeds in the promotion battles for the rest of the season.

The Norwegian international, pictured, broke his foot on his Leeds debut in January but two operations later, he is now on his way back.

He came on as a late substitute in Sunday's game at Cheltenham and, despite the shock 1-0 defeat, Flo was delighted to be back.

"It has been a really long time and it is such a relief to be able to finally play football without pain," Flo said.

"It's been ten months since I've been able to do that. Leeds' season has been great so far and now I hope I can be part of it and help us go up."

The optimistic mood of Leeds fans when things were going well has quickly chang-ed.

They booed the team off after last week's FA Cup defeat by Hereford and many walked out before the end at Chelt-enham.

They will hoping that the return of Flo, together with Alan Thompson and Radostin Kishishev will steady things after four defeats in seven matches in November.

Phone-ins and website notice boards have pointed out that the defeats have happened since Dave Bassett took over as assistant manager from Gus Poyet.

One desperate fan wrote: "Gone back to my usual mood - depressed and angry," while another said: "We are getting beaten by teams far below us in the ratings and this happens with the departure of Gus."

It seems harsh to blame Bassett for Leeds' style of play which hasn't changed since he arrived but the team badly needs to get back to the early season results if they are to calm anxious fans.