Sunderland's League One rival believes this is the date the 2020-21 season will start

The EFL board met last week and a couple of dates have been provisionally mentioned, September 12 and August 29.

Peterborough United co-owner Darragh MacAnthony believes it will be the later date. Football was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the play-offs are currently taking place.

Speaking on podcast ‘Hard Truths’ MacAnthony said: “I did ask Rick Parry (EFL chairman) if he was going to take the bull by the horns and announce a start date and issue the first set of fixtures rather than have another vote among clubs.

“And the impression I got from the meeting was that the season would start on August 29 or September 12 and if I was a betting man I would guess the date in September.

“There were a couple of the usual dissenting voices who don’t want to play until crowds come back, but they were told the TV deals would be in jeopardy. I understand where those chairmen were coming from, but it’s time to get the party started again and do what we are all paid to do and that’s play football.

“The EFL are working on getting some sort of crowd into grounds for when we start. It could be between 20-25% of capacity to start, but I reckon we could get up to 35-40% quickly and then 100% by January as there has been better news on the virus front.”