The Premier League's big six may have provided an inadvertent boost to the Championships season being completed.
A split has emerged in the Premier League over Project Restart, with relegation-threatened clubs in the division arguing that it would diminish sporting integrity to play behind closed doors.
Officials from Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and West Ham have all gone public with their concerns over plans, with some arguing that relegation should be scrapped if the league is restarted.
It has led to concerns over the prospect of Project Restart being successful, with any failure to get the Premier League back under way surely meaning the Championship would suffer the same fate.
Alongside that, scrapping relegation from the Premier League would most likely impact promotion from the Championship.
With Bristol City sat just outside the play-off places and Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion comfortably in the automatic promotion spots, there will be plenty of clubs keeping a keen eye on proceedings at the top level.
The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest of the so-called big six are now said to have grown angry with how relegation-threatened clubs are holding up the restart process.
It is reported in the Mirror that the big six will put pressure on the clubs raising objections to the current plans.
“It is as if they are trying to paint a picture that it is somehow the big clubs forcing this idea on them,” said one top club’s executive.
“It’s ridiculous. It is the Government and the police who have made neutral venues the issue. Do they honestly think we want to play in neutral venues with Champions League places at stake? It's the same for everyone.
“But it’s not our or indeed the Premier League’s call. They are saying the only way to get it done is to play in neutral venues. It’s not fair for anyone, nothing is going to be perfect - but we have to try.”
Whether their attempts to breathe new life into Project Restart are successful remains to be seen, but Championship clubs will no doubt be eagerly awaiting the results of today's Premier League meeting to see what the implications are for their own division.
