The EFL will reportedly tell League One and Two clubs early next week that the currently suspended 2019/20 season will not be played to a conclusion and will ask them to vote on how promotion and relegation should be decided, with one unlikely proposal potentially seeing the Blues promoted.

Currently the EFL is still officially committed to completing all three of its divisions with its remaining 113 matches played over 56 days behind closed doors with a June 6th start date pencilled in. Players are due back at their clubs for a mini-pre-season on May 16th.

However, the chances of the campaign being completed at League One and Two levels have significantly diminished over the course of the last week with various reports indicating that clubs are keen to abandon the season due to a variety of concerns, including the prohibitive expense of staging fixtures behind closed doors and issues relating to testing, not least the cost which is estimated at £8 million across the EFL divisions.

Now, according to The Athletic, a decision to curtail the League One and Two campaigns could be made as soon as Monday or Tuesday with several proposals for settling 2019/20 having been received from clubs. It is thought unlikely that the season will be declared null and void.

A points-per-game model (PPG) weighted to balance teams’ home and away totals is said to be the favoured proposal with the weighting addressing some teams having four remaining home games, some five, such as Town, and others six.

That would see Coventry placed first, Rotherham second and Oxford third with Town 11th as they would be in an unweighted PPG model, which is among the alternatives reportedly proposed.

Others include the current tables as they stand - which again would see Coventry, Rotherham and Oxford the top three - and only counting the first half of the season, the opening 22 games at League One level.

A table on this basis - whether the first 22 games literally or the first game played against each opposition side - would see Wycombe first, Oxford second and the Blues third on goal difference from Coventry, and promoted assuming the clubs opt to send the top three up in lieu of play-offs.

However, it appears highly unlikely that this proposal would be viewed as a fairer reflection of the campaign than the alternatives.

Other more complicated models aimed at factoring in the relative difficulty of clubs’ run-ins are also said to have been mooted but are understood to have received a lukewarm response.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Norwegian winger George Lewis, who is close to joining Arsenal on a free transfer after leaving Tromsø, is reported to have spent time on trial with the Blues earlier in the year.

Photo: Action Images

62WasBest added 12:30 - May 8 If penalties are deemed good enough to settle cup games why can't there be a marathon session of penalties taken at, say two venues (maybe more to reduce risk and travel), behind closed doors, representing the outstanding fixtures? Maybe best of three to speed things up, with squads of two keepers and four outfield players, all able to maintain social distancing Failing that, why not just toss a coin to decide each fixture, which was also deemed good enough years ago to decide cup ties in European knockout games.

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positivity added 12:39 - May 8 the one that sees us finish third is clearly the fairest and most logical. don't know why anyone would consider any others!
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Fatboy added 12:39 - May 8 Whatever happens, there are going to be winners and losers. Nullifying the second half of the season on the basis that it was not finished whereas the first half was (everyone has played each other at least once) is no different to the other proposals in that respect. However, I think we would count ourselves as very fortunate if we were to be promoted on that basis.
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positivity added 12:41 - May 8 just hope it's not the last 22 games as we might be in trouble then!
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COYB11 added 12:46 - May 8 I know it's highly unlikely but I wouldn't want to see us promoted. We'd get absolutely destroyed in the Championship next year - we are nowhere near ready for that level again. The current table doesn't lie.
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rabbit added 12:53 - May 8 Love your train of thought positivity and right behind you, as a great man said to me once " Fair...... wtf has that got to do with anything" !!! Have a great weekend
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Gordonzola added 13:39 - May 8 Sad to say but frankly we don't deserve to be promoted through the back door and God help us with this squad back in the Championship.
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positivity added 13:42 - May 8 coyb11 agree that we're nowhere near ready, but the alternative may be that it's impossible to keep hold of the likes of downes and woolfenden. any fee gained would be (even more of a) pittance if we're in league one. it's not going to happen, but I'd take a year in the championship if it were offered!
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COYB11 added 14:46 - May 8 Fair point 'poisitivity'. I guess we haven't had the 'feeling' of being promoted in a very long time and if we were promoted this way it wouldn't be sweet like it has been in the past. There'd be no trip to Wembley and certainly no party. It would be pretty terrible for footballing integrity if Rotherham and Coventry didn't go up though...
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TimmyH added 14:50 - May 8 What a mess...
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jas0999 added 15:32 - May 8 Sadly, we are a a League One club and have to now accept that the priority has to be the PL and Championship. As such it seems sensible to stop Leagues one and two, providing a fair way to determine promotion and relegation can be agreed. Although it would be nice if we were promoted, I think hand on heart most Town fans would accept we certainly don't deserve to be. It's been another very poor season.

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therein61 added 17:33 - May 8 Whatever decision is made some clubs will be up in arms and feel hard done by which is understandable div 1&2also N.L clubs are now the poor relations and basically will have to accept what the F.L decides, my own thoughts(again unfair) is that the season should be written off and we go again as soon as this awful virus let's us.
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EatonBlue added 17:45 - May 8 Adjusted PPG is the most likely option, with only the top two promoted and only two relegated.
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62WasBest added 19:49 - May 8 If the season is not played to a conclusion in some way then I cannot see how you can have any relegation or promotion. An incomplete season is just that, and if each club has not had the opportunity to complete its fixtures, it is a synthetic conclusion to pick winners and losers.
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Pecker added 10:27 - May 9 Beggers can't be choosers. If they want to promote us for our form early season, then I will take that. Anything to get out of this god forsaken league.
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hyperbrit added 20:01 - May 9 11th. seems fair to me...Town were pants when the virus hit and didn't look like recovering enough to be anywhere near the playoffs imo.
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bobble added 07:28 - May 12 we lost a league 1 championship because of points win/draw differentiation years ago when derby took our title, so we are owed a promotion through dodgy accounting..
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