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Swindon chairman Andrew Fitton has slammed claims from Portsmouth that the club bid £1million for Charlie Austin on deadline day.

Pompey administrator Andrew Andronikou on Tuesday stated that the Championship’s club’s owners tabled the offer for 21-year-old Austin, which was turned down.

But Fitton has angrily rejected those suggestions, insisting no official bid was made and that the amount mentioned was nowhere near a seven-figure sum.

The Robins chief told the Swindon Advertiser: “I can absolutely categorically deny that they (Portsmouth) put in a bid of £1million for Charlie Austin.

“And I am appalled at them putting out a story saying that. They mentioned a figure but it didn’t reach £1million, and I have got the text to prove it. I’m not going to say who the text is from but it proves what that figure was and I could really embarrass them with that.

“But I won’t. We live in a professional world, so all I am prepared to say is that Portsmouth did not put in a bid for Charlie Austin, let alone one for £1million.”

Hilary Stonefrost, representing the bank, said it was prepared to pay the £703,000 debt if HM Revenue and Customs withdrew its winding-up petitions against Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and Sheffield Wednesday PLC.

Registrar Christine Derrett approved the settlement after hearing HMRC would dismiss the petitions.

The League One club was given 28 days last month to pay up after High Court registrar Peter Nicholls was told the football club had already made a “substantial payment”.

Hugo Groves, representing the club, had asked for the adjournment of the winding-up petitions after saying money from the sale of players had been used to reduce the outstanding PAYE balance.

“There are also very serious and advanced negotiations for the sale of the club,” he said.

Peterborough boss Gary Johnson has warned defender Gabriel Zakuani that he should not expect to walk back into the first team.

Zakuani has missed the entire campaign to date as he recovers from a groin operation but came through the full 90 minutes of a reserve game on Tuesday afternoon.

Johnson said: “I don’t believe any manager would break up Kelvin Langmead and Ryan Bennett right now. I have been very pleased with the way they are developing as a pair.

“Gaby did well in the reserves, especially as it was a competitive game. It wasn’t a match that he could coast through.

“He has proved that he can play at League One level, but he will have to be patient.

“I was impressed with Carl Piergianni as well. Every time I watch him play he does well and it’s useful to have four good centre-backs at the club.”

George Burley has confirmed Crystal Palace are close to landing Everton striker James Vaughan on loan.

Vaughan has been linked with a move away from Everton after falling down the pecking order at Goodison Park.

Sheffield United and Derby have both been linked with Vaughan, but it appears Palace have won the race for the 22-year-old.

Eagles boss Burley has confirmed he is close to striking a deal for the England Under 21 international and that he will be his last signing until the new year.

“We think James is a very good player and we are hoping to finalise the move today or tomorrow,” Burley told the Croydon Advertiser.

“It’s no secret we have been looking for a striker and I think James could be the answer.

“He will be the final player we bring in, after this deal we will work with what we’ve got.”

Liam Lawrence is heading to Portsmouth after international duty with Republic of Ireland to commence a loan deal.

The Stoke midfielder was supposed to join Pompey on a permanent contract as part of the deal that took Marc Wilson the other way, but the move was not authorised by the Football League, who claim the necessary paperwork was not completed in time.

However a loan deal looks to have been agreed between the two clubs, with the move becoming permanent when the transfer window reopens in January.

And Lawrence, who played in Ireland’s 3-1 win over Andorra on Tuesday night, was in the dark as to why the deal was not ratified, but confirmed he will travel to the South Coast to begin his Pompey career.

“I am not too sure what happened,” he told Sky Sports. “I had a chat with the manager and my agent and they are disputing the times the papers went through.

“I was sat in the office for nearly four hours and the papers went through before 6pm so I don’t know what they are disputing.

“I will go back and see the family and then I will go straight down to Portsmouth for training on Thursday.

“I believe it is classed as a loan move, but it’s still all the same.”