ANDREW Fitton now knows who he wants to appoint as Swindon Town's next manager, but admits any announcement will have to wait until a formal takeover of the club is finalised on January 11.

Town's chairman designate has completed the interview process and is now ready to reveal his hand, but not before resolving the ongoing financial struggle with the Inland Revenue.

That means Robins fans will now have to wait until Friday at the earliest to learn who will steer their club into the future.

One man who definitely won't be sitting in the County Ground dugout this season however is Martin Keown.

Fitton dismissed speculation linking Keown, pictured right, with the Town hotseat as "complete nonsense," insisting there has been no contact with the former England and Arsenal defender.

"We cannot make an announcement regarding the next manager until we own the club," Fitton told the Swindon Advertiser.

"We are confident we know what announcement we are going to make, but we cannot make that until the takeover is complete.

"I can confirm Martin Keown is not on our list. He has not applied for the job and nor have we spoken to him.

"That was just another attempt to flush out the truth, but I won't say who it is yet."

The Ramsbury businessman spent much of Thursday on the phone to HMRC trying to break the deadlock over Town's mountain of debt, and revealed negotiations could continue into next week.

There is also the small matter of Town's transfer embargo to attend to, but for Fitton the immediate focus is putting the club back on a firm financial footing.

He said: "The last piece of the jigsaw has always been the Inland Revenue.

"I don't want to sound either positive or negative about it, other than to say we are still talking to them.

"However crazy it may sound, the tax man holds the key to the door. If he is sensible then everybody is happy.

"The man I am talking to is doing his best to help, but he is constrained by rules.

"The situation has got further than it should have done and so we are dealing with different departments, but the guy is trying to help us within the rules.

"We know what the right solution is, it's a question of whether they can accept that."

Fitton meanwhile will be hoping for another positive result on the field today when Town take on Barnet in the third round of the FA Cup.

Striker Billy Paynter should start his first match in over a month, with Blair Sturrock expected to partner him in attack.