Hull City have been warned by their accountants that they could be forced into liquidation were they to lose their Premier League status at the end of the current season.

After the Tigers accounts were recently assessed by auditors Deloitte, it was revealed that relegation to the Championship could result in £23million arrears for the club, who are currently in the Premier League drop zone.

Furthermore, even if Phil Brown's side were to see it through to the 2010-11 season in the English top-flight, Hull would still be forced to find £16million from somewhere in order to continue living by their current means.

The Tigers survived relegation on the final day of last season, and look set to take it down to the wire again this term as they have only won three of their last 33 Premier League games!

The report covers the period ending 31st July 2008, when the Humberside club made a loss of nearly £10m as they won promotion via the play-offs.

Therefore it does not take into account the Tigers' first season in the Premier League or the sale of star defender Michael Turner to Sunderland in the summer which netted the club £6million.

"These forecasts demonstrate that in order to operate within the company's finance facilities Hull City will need to generate a surplus £23m during the next 12 months through player trading, match day and commercial income and/or through additional finance raising," the report states.

"In the event the club retain Premier League status for the 2010-11 season, the additional funding required for the 12 month period will be in the region of £16m."