Spartans have been dealt a blow in their bid to win Scottish League status after it emerged on the eve of the vote that a clutch of bigger clubs have voiced concerns that the pledges of the Edinburgh club don't stand up to scrutiny.

Spartans have been dealt a blow in their bid to win Scottish League status after it emerged on the eve of the vote that a clutch of bigger clubs, including Airdrie United and Partick Thistle, have voiced concerns that some of the pledges the Edinburgh club have made in their presentation do not stand up to scrutiny.

Although Spartans officials claim to be relaxed about the situation, they are privately furious at the fashion in which most of what they say and do is constantly cross-referenced to the ignominious fashion in which Gretna, the club they are seeking to replace, flew into the SFL and crashed to earth with an Icarus-style thud.

Spartans received zero marks in 11 of 15 categories, following a recent inspection of their facilities by the SFL, which took no account of the fact that the building site, which currently doubles as their premises, will soon be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art stadium.

"I have no problem with people checking and double-checking what we are aiming for, especially following what happened at Gretna, where promises were made and broken, but I hope the SFL clubs recognise the scale of what we are proposing and how our whole philosophy is based on reaching out to every single member of the community," said Craig Graham, the club chairman.

"We will have a purpose-built ground from September onwards, we have 500 kids in our youth system, we have an Active Future programme for the unemployed, and we are building up both men and women's football in our area.

"We already have two full-time development officers, we will give under 16s free admission to our matches next season and we have an agreement with the council, where schools will have free access to the new facilities, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, five days a week.

"As somebody who has a long-term connection with Spartans, this is our No.1 priority, namely building up from the grassroots and sowing the seeds of community involvement. We have been in existence since 1951 and it has worked well for us so far. Now, we want to take the step up to the next level.

"It's a bit like the Olympics, you have to put your case and prepare as thoroughly as you can, but you can only do so much," said Graham yesterday, as he prepared for today's cross-examination at 11.05 at Hampden.

Annan appear to be Spartans' main rivals and Graham added: "We would be pleased for them if they won because they are a great club, run by great people. We have been close to them for years and this is a civilised contest."