Gillingham manager demands play-off place
Gillingham boss Steve Evans has demanded that they be included in any extended play-off campaign.
League One clubs are expectingtovoteonthefateofthe season later this week, though atimeanddatehasnotyetbeen set. The EFL board will hold their weekly meeting when the matter is expected to be discussed further.
A majority of clubs are understood to be keen to curtail thecampaign,butSunderland areoneofsixwhohavepublicly stated their desire to play on.
The EFL have stated that they expected promotion and relegation to be respected regardless, and still plan to hold a play-off campaign. That led the rebel clubs to propose an extension, given the fiercely contested nature of the promotion race this season.
It is also not clear just how far down the table clubs would bewillingtogo,withsomesuggestions that Ipswich Town, currentlysittingintenth,could take part. However, Evans has made his intervention as the application of an unweighted points-per-game mechanism to settle the table, which is the EFL’spreference,wouldseehis side leapfrog Ipswich Town into tenth position.
“The first thing to make clear is that the EFL will have promotion and relegation throughout, Rick Parry, the league chairman, made that clear when he addressed us managers in League 1 last Friday,” Evans said.
“Further, to get everyone up to level games then average points per game needs to be addedtothoseplayingcatchup with fixtures. That would take us into the top 10 and be a part of these matches. In the event that happens I would trust we will give a good account of ourselves and perhaps even win them."