Rick Parry reveals the EFL stance on when Sunderland fans could return to the Stadium of Light and the ongoing salary cap plans

The EFL are set to meet with their member clubs on Wednesday to discuss plans ahead of the new campaign, with a provisional start date high on the agenda.

And while many clubs are keen to see football resume, others remain cautious; wary of the financial implications of playing games in front of empty stadiums.

But Parry believes that with talk of spectators ‘ramping up in volume’, fans could be allowed back into stadiums gradually from the start of the 2020/21 season.

He is, however, pleading caution at this moment in time.

“The green shoots of recovery are definitely there,” he said, speaking to The Times.

“I don’t want to pre-empt what the government’s going to say in the next couple of weeks but the talk about spectators returning, albeit gradually, is definitely ramping up in volume at the moment.

“We absolutely mustn’t get complacent. I don’t think for one minute the virus is permanently vanished but compared with where we were even six weeks ago there are definitely grounds for cautious optimism.

“We are not out of the woods yet. I’ve never known a situation where there are so many moving parts and where there is so much uncertainty.

“Planning ahead is really difficult because we just don’t know.”

Parry also confirmed that salary caps are being discussed – which could see League One clubs forced to employ a ‘hard’ cap, limiting their playing expenditure to a certain amount. Reports have suggested that figure could be around £2.5million.

“Salary caps are being discussed at every level,” he confirmed.

“We already have salary caps in Leagues One and Leagues Two but it’s a different form of salary cap that’s now being debated.

“The problem with the previous cap it was a percentage of revenue. In the case of some clubs like Bury it was a percentage of revenue that never actually arrived.

“A hard salary cap is a different form of cap. In theory, it is simpler to monitor.”