Although Lancashire-based businessman Geoff Sheard has agreed to pay £5m for a 30 per cent stake in the debt-ridden club, Sotnick is still locked in talks aimed at hi-jacking the takeover deal.

Backed by British rather than foreign investors, Sotnick is expected to submit an improved offer to the club's major shareholders in the next 48 hours.

Former chairman Dave Allen, director Geoff Hulley and former director Keith Addy have all agreed verbally to sell to Sheard, who is backed by Swiss and German investors.

Sheard has also appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton to complete due diligence and acquire the shares, and he will be attending Sunday's final game of the season against Norwich City at Hillsborough as a guest of the club.

Sotnick is believed to have held further talks with the club's finance director Bob Grierson yesterday as well as representatives from professional services company Deloitte Touche, who are handling the takeover.

The North Yorkshire-based businessman will sit down with his backers tomorrow to update them on what he has learned before planning their next step.

Sotnick said: "We don't want to comment too much at this stage but our objectives have not changed. If Geoff Sheard is the successful bidder, we will wish him luck."

The Owls have been trapped in a financial nightmare since suffering relegation from the Premier League eight years ago.

Leisure tycoon Allen stepped down as chairman in November last year after the collapse of two proposed takeover deals involving Chinese businessman Carson Yeoung and former Everton director Paul Gregg.

Both were allegedly put off by the difficulty of obtaining a majority shareholding in the club.

Sheard's consortium have a further £35m set aside to acquire the rest of the club's shareholding (which is widely spread among hundreds of minority shareholders), reduce the £27m debt, and provide money for a promotion push.

However, it is understood that a failure to post this money into a British bank account has hampered the pace of the deal.

In the last ten days, both Sotnick and Sheard have held private meetings with representatives from the club's Shareholders Association, who control a 12 per cent stake in the club, and fans' group Wednesdayite, who were gifted a 10 per cent stake seven years ago.

Both have expressed a willingness to support any takeover deal that will take the club forward.

Sotnick has confirmed that his consortium will not be represented at Sunday's game, which the Owls need to win to guarantee Championship survival.

"We don't want to cause any distraction for the club or Brian Laws," he said. "The sole focus needs to be on the team winning a vitally important game."

Both Sheard and Sotnick say their deals will not hinge on whether the Owls stay up.

Wednesday climbed out of the relegation zone with a victory over Leicester last weekend, but manager Laws is refusing to take survival for granted.

"We have a fighting chance to stay in this division and it would be a great achievement if we do," he said. "We are not relying on anyone else and three points will guarantee that we stay up. That is the attitude we have to take into the game.

"Hopefully, a positive result will lay the foundations for the football club to be stronger next season. This football club should not be in this situation but you are never too big to go down."

Wednesday have announced that the Norwich game is a 35,000 sell-out after supporters snapped up thousands of cut-price tickets. The club offered entry at just £10 in a bid to fill their stadium.

"The atmosphere will be fantastic and we want to give the supporters something back so that they can enjoy a comfortable summer," added Laws.

Loan striker Ben Sahar, due to play his final game for the Owls on Sunday, is determined to sign off on a high.

"We know a win is enough, we won't have to wait for anyone else's results," said the Israeli. "It is important to get the win so we can go on holiday with a smile and not a sad face."