The English Football League has underlined the importance of starting to allow fans back into stadiums to help alleviate the "extreme pressure" on clubs' finances.

Discussions continue between sports governing bodies and government over the return of supporters amid the challenges of Covid-19.

The government had set October 1 as the date that fans could begin to filter back into stadiums at 25 per cent capacity on average, but that is under review after a spike in coronavirus cases nationwide.

EFL head of policy John Nagle on Tuesday said that clubs will make a collective loss of £200million if fans do not return this season, having already been hit by a £50million loss lass term.

The EFL said in a statement: "The EFL remains in discussions with the Government about the pilot programme which may include a limited number of further pilot matches during September with a capacity limited to 1,000.

"The League is clear in its view that social distancing can be applied safely in football stadia and that having crowds at matches is an absolutely essential part of helping to protect club finances, which remain under extreme pressure.

"Therefore, the successful delivery of further pilots will be an important step towards getting larger number of fans into grounds safely.

"The EFL will continue its dialogue with DCMS and SGSA to ensure that evidence and insight secured from these events helps to inform the Government's position on welcoming back supporters post October 1."

UPDATE

The EFL have now confirmed that three Championship games will welcome back supporters this weekend. 

Luton Town v Derby County, Norwich City v Preston North End and Middlesbrough v AFC Bournemouth have all been selected to host up to 1000 supporters. 

EFL Chair, Rick Parry said: “It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our Clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to a 1,000 fans this week.

“The health and well-being of supporters and their wider communities remains the priority, but as we showed at Cambridge, social distancing can be applied safely.

"By extending across more EFL Clubs we hope to further demonstrate that the measures developed can allow fans to return in greater numbers from as early as next month.

“The requirement to welcome spectators back through turnstiles has not diminished in any way, the financial challenges facing EFL Clubs have been explained on numerous occasions, they are substantial and a problem that requires immediate solutions."

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said: "I know that many fans are eager to return to football and that jobs depend on this too, so fans will welcome news that the EFL will be running number capped, covid secure, and socially distanced pilots this weekend.

"This will help us build the evidence base to see how we can return fans safely in greater numbers as soon as it is safe to do so."