The Football Association has told the Premier League that this season must be completed on sporting merit and that declaring it null and void is not an option.

At today's Project Restart meeting, the league's member clubs met to discuss their plans to bring football back, with a June restart still hoped for.

That idea was given a boost today by the government who gave the green light for sporting events to return after the start of next month, while fans may have to wait for a vaccine before they are allowed back into stadiums.

At the meeting, the FA made their position clear, that they want the season to be decided on sporting merit, which would mean playing the remaining games, or declaring a winner based on an agreed system based on the number of points each club has now if the season cannot be finished.

One such method could be points-per-game, which would see Watford avoid relegation by virtue of having a goal difference one better than fellow basement battlers Bournemouth, who would be relegated along with Norwich and Aston Villa.

Clubs at the bottom of the table were united in their stance against the use of neutral venues at the start of the meeting, but the FA's insistence that sporting merit be used to complete the season means that the three clubs potentially facing relegation could now be forced to u-turn on that position, in order to try and stay in the top flight.

However, reports elsewhere suggest that the league could ask the government if clubs can use their own stadiums for the remaining games, as a way of appeasing those teams with reservations about the idea of using neutral grounds.

Both the Times and the Mail claim that more than half of the clubs in the league are uncomfortable with the idea of using neutral venues and as a result, the league will see if the government are willing to be more flexible.

Over the weekend Watford CEO and chairman Scott Duxbury said the idea of neutral stadiums lacked "sporting integrity" while club legend John Barnes added his voice to those against the idea, saying he could see no point in it.

The Sun are also reporting that clubs voted to extend the contracts of players whose current deals run out on June 30.