Laws, who signed Polish international striker Bartosz Slusarski on loan yesterday from West Bromwich Albion, is keen to resolve the futures of several players who are coming to the end of existing deals.

But with no chairman at the helm, and no sign of a deal between the Owls and Lancashire-based businessman Geoff Sheard – despite talks lasting three months – the Championship club are in limbo, still burdened with a £26m debt, and the manager's hands are tied.

Midfielders Ronnie Wallwork, Burton O'Brien and Sean McAllister, goalkeepers Rob Burch and Richard O'Donnell, and defender Lee Bullen are among those who will soon be out of contract.

Graham Kavanagh's loan deal from Sunderland is due to expire this summer and the club also need to make decisions on Enoch Showunmi, Adam Bolder, Ben Sahar and Frank Songo'o, whose loans expire before the end of the season.

Laws said: "The problem we have is the possibility of the so-called 'takeover'. Is there a takeover? If there is, are we shopping in a different area? If there is no takeover, we cannot make any decisions. We could possibly lose a player or two because of it," Laws admitted. "If we cannot offer them a contract because of the financial problems we have, we will have to take that loss."

Shareholders had been told that Sheard's consortium planned to make a formal offer for a 30 per cent stake in the club nearly a month ago, but nothing materialised. It could now be a case of investors waiting for the Owls to secure Championship status.

Laws said: "I know the players want to know which direction they are going. Unfortunately, I cannot give them those answers. In terms of contracts, we just have to push everything to one side. Nothing is black and white, it is a grey area.

"But they understand that we have to wait until near the end of the season before we can make anything constructive.

"It is a risk, but it is a risk we have to take. If we do get a takeover, and a glimmer of hope, it changes everybody's thoughts. For now, we have to bite the bullet."

The Owls play host to Championship leaders Stoke City tomorrow and Laws insists that confidence in the camp is high despite the club's position in the relegation zone with only seven games left to play.

"We have been playing well, without moving out of the bottom three, but there is an improvement because we are a lot closer to the teams at the top," he said.

"We are going in the right direction and we have the experience of being in this situation for longer than the other teams which helps. We have not panicked and there is an air of confidence about the team which is unusual in these circumstances.

"If we beat Stoke, we can jump above four teams where previously one win may only have lifted us up one place."

Laws, meanwhile, has revealed that West Brom manager Tony Mowbray played a key role in persuading Slusarski to move to Hillsborough.

Mowbray and Laws, once team-mates at Middlesbrough, remain close friends.

Laws said: "I have to thank Tony for helping in this manner. He alerted me to the fact that the player wanted to come out on loan. There was another Championship club after his services, at the top end of the table, but Tony didn't want him to go there because they are also fighting for promotion and he doesn't want to give anybody an added edge."

Slusarski, 26, who has two full caps for Poland, joined the Baggies in a £680,000 deal last summer, but has made only one appearance as a substitute and spent a period on loan with Blackpool.

The Owls needed a new striker because Enoch Showunmi's loan deal from Bristol City expires this weekend and Marcus Tudgay has recently joined Akpo Sodje and Francis Jeffers on the injury list.

Slusarski, who is on loan until the end of the season, may have to settle for a place on the bench against Stoke tomorrow, but that depends on the fitness of Deon Burton, who returns today from midweek international duty with Jamaica.

Owls' third-choice goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell has extended his loan deal with Oldham Athletic and teenage striker Todd Wood has joined Worksop Town on work experience.