Shropshire Star

West Brom set to resume promotion battle as Championship restart gets green light

West Brom will continue their quest for Premier League promotion as the EFL confirmed a provisional return date of June 20 for the Championship.

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Slaven Bilic head coach / manager of West Bromwich Albion (AMA)

After the Premier League announced on Thursday that play would resume on June 17, the EFL gave the green light for the second tier to begin.

That date is subject to safety requirement and Government guidance being met, with clubs requiring clearance from local authorities to play on home turf.

Slaven Bilic's side currently sit second in the table, one point behind leaders Leeds and six points ahead of third-placed Fulham.

The Championship play-off final will be "on or around 30 July 2020", while the EFL will consider increasing substitutions to five per team and the matchday squad from 18 to 20 players, with discussions "to continue with Championship clubs in this respect".

EFL chairman Rick Parry said: "With Sky Bet Championship clubs set to return to full contact training later this week and following Saturday's Government announcement, we are edging closer towards resuming the 2019/20 EFL season.

"We have therefore today consulted with the board's Championship directors and agreed to fixtures restarting behind closed doors on 20 June.

"Whilst matches will unfortunately have to take place without supporters, we are working with our broadcast partners, EFL Championship clubs and all relevant stakeholders to broadcast the remaining 108 games plus Sky Bet Championship play-offs either live on Sky Sports, iFollow or a club's equivalent streaming service."