http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/8977233.stmPortsmouth are hoping to sign Stoke City midfielder Liam Lawrence on an emergency loan after a permanent deal was rejected by the Football League.
Lawrence, 28, had been set to join the Championship outfit along with striker Dave Kitson, while defender Marc Wilson went in the other direction.
However, the deal was rejected because vital paperwork was not submitted by 1800 BST on transfer deadline day.
The loan move will have to be authorised by the league.
But Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou has denied the claims the paperwork was late.
"The Lawrence deal has not been ratified by the Football League yet and we are still waiting to hear the outcome," he told Portsmouth Today.
"From our end, all documentation was sent on time, well before the 6pm deadline. I was there myself to see it.
"Admittedly, the deal happened a little later than we would have liked as the player was training with the Republic of Ireland squad. We haven't even had a chance to give him a medical yet.
"But it was sorted before 6pm, I can tell you."
He added: "Unfortunately, we are not Tottenham and are not allowed to have this issue sorted the next day as they did with Rafael Van Der Vaart.
"This sort of thing will only happen to us. There is proper brinkmanship going on just because we are Portsmouth Football Club."
Speaking to the club website, Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes added: "It is important that we work to find an expedient solution.
"The aim now is to ensure we arrive at the same point for both clubs and, most importantly, for the player who had made up his mind to join Portsmouth.
"That will probably take the form of a loan move until the end of the year and then Liam would finalise his permanent move to Fratton Park in the January window."
Lawrence, currently on international duty with the Republic of Ireland, has not figured in any of Stoke's fixtures this season.
He added: "Unfortunately, we are not Tottenham and are not allowed to have this issue sorted the next day as they did with Rafael Van Der Vaart.
Exactly, Pompey are not a Premiership club any more, but you must admit they did get an awful lot of help when they were, and when they were going through that whole admin thing
