Leeds United's promotion hopes rest on Premier League despite doubts over EFL conclusion

Unconfirmed reports suggest players in Leagues One and Two have already been told not to expect to finish the 2019-20 season, and there are fears this could extend to the second tier as well. But as long as relegation from the top division can be decided, The Whites' return after 14 years away should not be blocked.

Top-flight chief executives are due to meet on Friday to discuss “Project Restart” but there are growing fears the logistical and political problems may be insurmountable in the lower leagues.

Although the Football League's official line is that, like the Premier League, they want the campaign played to a conclusion if it is safe to do so, it has been reported that after Wednesday's board meeting, club captains and union representatives were briefed there is a “very real possibility” the League One and Two seasons will not be completed, which would raise questions about whether Rotherham United would be promoted to the Championship.

Some have gone further, questioning whether the second-tier can be completed either.

A huge number of coronavirus tests would be needed to allow matches to take place, and clubs and League board members are worried this would not sit well while some NHS and key workers are struggling to be tested.

The cost for testing everyone who need to attend matches in the 20-team Premier League for this season's remaining games has been estimated at £4m. The Championship and League Two have 24 teams, League One 23.

Playing behind closed doors would allow the Premier League to deliver on its television contracts, and avoid bills of up to £762m for the matches not yet screened, but the economics are very different lower down the leagues, where the broadcast deals are much lower and the dependence on matchday revenue therefore much higher. It is said the Football League do not expect fans to be allowed into stadia until next January at the earliest.

The players' union, the Professional Footballers Association, have been asked if its members who are out of contract at the end of June would be prepared to play out the season regardless of how long it takes, with many lower league clubs not prepared to pay them extra for it. Out-of-contract players receive a one-month severance payment, and this has been used to justify players appearing for free in July.

Again, the numbers are more significant the lower down the pyramid because contracts are usually shorter. Bradford City have 14 players out of contract in June. Fellow League Two side Stevenage say they have only two players contracted beyond it.

Collectively, Championship clubs spend more on wages than they receive in income, and many are still to reach agreements over pay cuts or deferrals. Leeds' players and coaches agreed early in the lockdown to defer wages “for the foreseeable future”. There were reports on Friday that Hull City's players were close to agreeing a 25 per cent deferral.

Barnsley coach Gerhard Struber expects the Championship to restart shortly after the Premier League, although others have cast doubt on whether the second tier will be able to resume at all. Struber sees the end of July as the cut-off.

"This is only my feeling, but there is a big pressure that the Premier League starts and maybe the Championship starts a little bit later - one or two weeks,” he said. “This is my information right now.

"Maybe we have a best practice situation from the Premier League for when we start and we can learn from the practical situation from the Premier League.

"I think when (if) we cannot end the season until the end of July, then we must end it. I think this is the latest time when we (can) speak about this season in this time. I think at the end of July, we are finished with this season."

Any league finishing its season early would have to decide whether to void it, or if not how to decide final legal placings, with legal challenges seemingly inevitable regardless.

Rotherham are in League One's second automatic promotion place, and would remain there if points-per-game were used to decide final positions. Barnsley are bottom of the Championship, and would swap places with them if promotion and relegation went ahead.

"The good news for Leeds is that under every scenario I have looked at they almost always go up either as Champions or runner-up, with only the very tiniest possibility that they endure another play off campaign," said InfoGol's football data analyst Mark Taylor, who, has explored various data models and simulations.

Therefore, the Whites' promotion hopes rest not on whether the Championship season can be played to a conclusion, but whether the Premier League can.

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