DANIEL Williams today insisted he is still interested in buying Blackburn Rovers.

In an exclusive interview with the Lancashire Telegraph, the New Jersey-based millionaire has denied reports his takeover bid is on the verge of collapse.

A story in one of the weekend tabloids claimed that Williams was ready to pull out of a deal, because the pressure of extra outside business contracts' was starting to occupy too much of his time.

However, the Lancashire-born business tycoon is adamant he still hopes to complete a takeover of the club - hopefully in time to provide manager Mark Hughes with extra funds to spend in the January transfer window.

Williams, 30, and his American-based partners have been talking to Rovers' advisers for several months about the possibility of buying the Walker Trustees' 99.8 per cent stake in the club.

Initially, they were hoping to conclude a deal by mid-August, with the aim being to provide Hughes with extra cash to spend in the summer transfer window, but a series of hold-ups meant they failed to meet that deadline.

Williams, however, insists his takeover bid is not dead in the water, and he claims both he and his partners remain committed to the process.

"We are definitely still interested," said the young entrepreneur, who was at Ewood recently to see Rovers beat Manchester City.

"We are still working behind the scenes to put everything together, and when we have done that, we will get back in touch with the club again.

"My personal plan is to try and get something done before January.

"At the moment, there's not a mad scramble to try and get something done because the transfer window has just closed, and because of that, people are assuming the deal is dead.

"But that's not the case at all."

Williams first became interested in buying Rovers in March earlier this year, but a series of delays, partly due to other business commitments elsewhere, has meant that process has taken longer than expected, leading to frustration and scepticism amongst supporters.

"I can understand the fans' frustrations because this thing has gone back and forth," said Williams, who is also currently in negotiations with the Nigerian government over a contract to build 300,000 new houses in the African nation.

"At first, we didn't think the club was doing its bit and they weren't giving us enough information concerning a right and reasonable valuation.

"Then, more recently, we've been responsible for a lot of the delays because we haven't been able to get everything together that the club has needed from us.

"If we'd have put a bid in by August 1 and then rushed through the due diligence, we might have had a chance (of getting something done before the transfer window).

"But we probably dropped the ball a bit in July and now there isn't that same sense of urgency because there isn't a lot we can do before January.

"It's not as if the club is in financial peril.

"The Trustees are running Blackburn nicely, with John Williams as chairman, and if we came in between now and January what would we do?

"We'd still have John as chairman, and we'd be trying to run the club as well as the trustees have done.

"So there isn't a massive urgency to get things done now, which has perhaps taken the pressure off a bit."