Bradford Park Avenue are confident they will pay off a “four-figure” tax bill this week to avoid a winding up order.

The club have been served with a petition by HM Revenue & Customs which is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on July 14.

The petition was presented on May 27, shortly after Avenue had missed out on promotion in a dramatic play-off final against Boston.

But director Kevin Hainsworth today played down fears that the club could be facing a Farsley Celtic-style meltdown.

Hainsworth admitted Avenue had been “a little bit naïve” but there was no reason for concern among supporters.

He said: “It’s not a problem and everything is going to be sorted out. Somebody told them in all good faith that the tax bill would be paid by a certain date and it went beyond that.

“Even though I had spoken to HMRC and told them it would be delayed by a couple of weeks, they just went ahead with this petition. It was probably a little bit naïve on our part to give them an exact day it would be paid in but I’m sure it will be sorted out this week.”

Football clubs are in the firing line with the tax man and there have been several high-profile cases involving Portsmouth, Cardiff and Southend.

Teams from the lower end of the spectrum are also coming under increasing pressure, even though the amount of money owed hardly scratches the surface compared with the Premier League and Football League debts.

Hainsworth added: “We’ve had numerous insolvency guys on to us about this. They are targeting football clubs at the moment.

“So many clubs have reneged on so many promises and the tax man wants to make a stand.

“But this is not a problem for us. As soon as the money is paid into their bank and cleared then it’s automatically sorted and we won’t have to go to Court.”

Having missed out on promotion, new Avenue boss Simon Collins has been forced to operate on a much-reduced wage budget compared to last season.