Sheffield United allowed five substitutes but other Premier League decisions still to be made

Chief amongst them are the fixture list and how the league will be decided if it is unable to play the remaining 92 games as it hopes. Once the Blades have played their game in hand at Aston Villa on June 17, matches are set to be played in the original sequence, but with weekend fixtures spread across four days and 10 time slots, and games most midweeks, the scheduling is going to be important for clubs to know, as will be the travel arrangements they can use to get to and from matches, particularly if overnight accommodation is unavailable.

How to resolve the league if the clubs are not able to play all their 38 games is a contentious issue and scrapping relegation as some hope could deny Leeds United the opportunity of winning promotion to next season's division. The Football Association has made clear it wants promotion and relegation between the divisions regardless, and the Football League are also against blocking the path from the Championship to the Premier League.

What is clear is that, in line with Germany's Bundesliga and as expected, Premier League clubs have agreed to adopt the International Football Association Board's temporary rule change which allows teams to use five substitutes a game, instead of the usual three.

Clubs will also be allowed matchday squads of 20, up from the usual 18.

The changes are designed to ease concerns about increased injuries for players who will have not had a match of more than three months, and who who went more than two months without contact training because of the lockdown. Even with five substitutions, there has been a big spike in Bundesliga injuries.

There will be limits on when substitutions can be made during games so it cannot be abused for timewasting. Teams will be restricted to three during games, plus another opportunity at half-time, meaning they will have to make at least one double substitution to use their full compliment.

On the face of it, bigger squads and more substitutes might seem to favour some of the bigger clubs Sheffield United are competing with as they look to qualify for European football for the first time.

Although manager Chris Wilder usually utilises all three of his available substitutes, the Blades have only used 22 players this season. Only Leicester City, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers have used fewer, although perhaps tellingly, all three are also in European contention to some degree, and Sheffield United still have Wolves and the Foxes to play.

And Wilder's players have spent all season defying footballing logic.

They have two opportunities to qualify for Europe, as they are in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and victory at Villa Park will move them above Wolves and Manchester United, into fifth, with all clubs having nine matches to play.

The kick-off time for the Villa game is still to be confirmed but it has been suggested it could be 6pm, which would make it the first game in English league football since matches were suspended because of coronavirus.

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