Hull City chairman Nick Buchanan today promised to come begging to York City and other football clubs in the region after the Tigers were barred from their Boothferry Park home.

Hull were locked-out of their ground by the club's landlord, David Lloyd, for the second time within nine months.

Buchanan was in discussions with his legal team earlier today and expected to have the court order banning him from entry to the ground overturned.

However, should the ban remain in place Buchanan insists the Tigers home match with Leyton Orient on Saturday will go ahead and is looking to neighbourhood clubs, including York City, for support.

He said: "If we have to play at Scunthorpe, Grimsby, York, Mansfield or anywhere else we will do, David Lloyd will not win because if he does there will be no Hull City Football Club.

"I'm in the business of ensuring that the club survives and not in the business of playing games with anyone. I won't allow this club to go under.

"I want to assure the fans that everything that I can do I will do to make sure that their club, and I stress that it is their club, survives."

Scunthorpe's ground will not be available to the Tigers on Saturday - the Iron are schedule to entertain the Minstermen.

That means Bootham Crescent would be free but with tomorrow's reserve team match in doubt due to waterlogging may not be playable.

Grimsby, away at Gillingham, and Mansfield, away at Halifax, are realistic options should the Tigers still be barred from Boothferry Park.

Buchanan said: "This is a personal matter and it's very sad that Mr Lloyd has decided to take this course of action.

"I really don't understand what he is attempting to achieve because he has to realise he is not hurting Buchanan, but he is hurting Hull City Football Club and all of its fans - and they really don't deserve that."

Hull City face a winding-up order in the High Court tomorrow, brought on behalf of the Customs and Excise for unpaid VAT totalling up to half a million pounds.

But Hull officials are trying to head off that action by requesting a voluntary administration order prior to the winding-up hearing.

Buchanan says that all of today's actions will not deflect them from trying to forestall the VAT man.

He said: "We still have to get on with the business of securing the long-term future of this football club and nothing that has happened overnight with regard to being locked out of our ground will deflect us from that.

"The overriding concern of both myself and my fellow directors is to ensure that Hull City continues in existence and while being locked out of the ground is inconvenient it's just something else that we have to deal with.

"I have to say it's something else that we could have done without, but nonetheless we will face it like we've faced all of the other problems and not run away."

Buchanan says he is prepared to step aside if it is in the club's best interests and he will do it sooner rather than later if he feels that is the best course of action.

Updated: 14:14 Tuesday, February 06, 2001