Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he is 'worried' about the survival of lower league clubs after the British government scuppered plans for supporters to return to stadiums next month.
A second wave of coronavirus infections has led to a tightening of restrictions, including the halting of plans for spectators to return to sports venues in England from October 1 on a socially-distanced basis.
Football League chairmen have warned of the real possibility of clubs going bust after the reopening of sports grounds was pushed back and discussions over additional financial support from the Premier League to the Football League are continuing.
Northern clubs have suffered financial woe unrelated to the pandemic in recent times. Bury went bust last year, Macclesfield Town were wound up in the High Court last week and Wigan Athletic were only relegated to League One after they lost an appeal against a 12-point deduction for going into administration.
Dale Vince, the chairman of League Two club Forest Green, said this week 'the Premier League does have some responsibility to the lower leagues of football, because they can help out'. Solskjaer pointed out Premier League clubs were also operating at significant losses.
"I think, first of all, it's the situation we're in, the virus and everything," Solskjaer said when asked whether the Premier League should provide EFL clubs with financial support. "It's so difficult to predict what's going to happen and when the rate is going up and the fans aren't coming in it's even worse for football and society in general.
"But I am worried for League One and League Two teams and lower teams, as well, of course we are. But all the Premier League teams are all losing money as well and hopefully we can get back and football will be normal and we won't lose too many clubs.
"How we can do it? I'm sure we need clubs locally, we've seen Bury, Macclesfield and Wigan struggle. So it's not a nice situation to be in."
