Sports Minister Nigel Adams has joined calls for Bury to be given extra time to stave off the threat of expulsion from the Football League.

Shakers owner Steve Dale has until midnight tonight to convince the EFL he has a deal in place to preserve the future of the 134-year-old League One club.

If the league are not satisfied they will become the first club to be ejected since 1992 and face possible extinction. 

Bury have seen their first six games of the season in league and cup suspended with the EFL still seeking reassurances from Dale, who bought the debt-ridden club from Stewart Day last December for £1, that he can settle with creditors and fund the club going forwards.

EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans said yesterday that the club could be handed a short extension but Bury North MP James Frith believes the upcoming weekend and bank holiday means any pushing back of the deadline should begin on Tuesday.

Frith initially wrote the league on Monday pleading for the town’s football club to given more time with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham doing likewise yesterday.

Later in the day that call was echoed by Adams who heads up the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

“I’m deeply concerned about the situation @buryfcofficial,” he posted on Twitter.

“Today I’ve spoken to @EFL and @JamesFrith about what more can be done to secure this historic club's future.”

Dale has spoken of several interested parties with one bid from former Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite turned down, a sum of £900,000 owed to the current owner as part of the Company Voluntary Agreement he agreed believed to have been a sticking point.

The Press Association reports the most credible bidder is a London-based group which is already involved in the football industry and has been looking to buy a club in the third or fourth tiers.

Whoever it is, Frith is continuing calls for more time to be given to get a deal in the works, even if it is not completed.

"I'm encouraged that the EFL now recognises the need to extend the time available to Bury but the extension should be determined by the practical need to save the club, not an arbitrary figure which risks being more hindrance than help,” the Labour MP said.

"The alternative ownership of Bury is real so all efforts need to be on this and not about all the mouths there are to be fed all of a sudden."

Burnham’s letter backed Frith’s stance.

It read: “I fully accept that the EFL cannot bail out the club, nor can financial mismanagement within clubs become normalised.

"Nonetheless, I feel that the complex circumstances surrounding Bury's current difficulties are exceptional and merit an alternative approach.

"Given the urgency of Bury's plight, I would be grateful if you would consider intervening on this occasion and granting the club a one-off extension based on an explicit agreement that new ownership be actively sought and demonstrated."

Jevans will clearly need some convincing though.

"There's got to be tangible reasons for a delay and a conversation (between Dale and a potential buyer) would have to be a very deep one for that to happen,” the EFL boss said.

"When people say there needs to be a delay, you want to say 'yes', because we want this club to survive.

"But we have to step back and look at the fact there are other clubs in this league.

“We have already postponed five fixtures and you have to fit those fixtures in - in all likelihood, other matches will be postponed this season for inclement weather.

"If we were to delay, it would be a very short delay - 24, maybe 48 hours. We can't keep postponing matches. A long delay isn't possible or practical, however much one wants this club to survive, however much there is empathy for the fans."