Fleshing out the statement, chairman McGinnity, who replaced the ousted Bryan Richardson three weeks ago, said: 'I haven't joined the magic circle! It was unfair to be tagged with the £60million figure, although possibly it was factual at the time. A lot has been done since then, we've put a new business plan into place and I've had some very good meetings with out bankers. We're heading in the right direction and the thing I would like to stress most is that the figure of £30m does not involve selling any members of the first-team squad.'
McGinnity agreed that £13m was owed to directors who were not likely to be calling for it back soon, making the realistic 'in the red' figure around £17m - "and that could be wiped out in one year back in the Premiership."
He added that former chairman Richardson had stressed the club's debt was far less intimidating than the headline figure suggested before he was forced out in a boardroom coup.
'That's fair comment,' he said.