Noel Whelan says there would be no complaints if Leeds United and West Brom were to be automatically promoted to the Premier League this season, without the campaign being completed.

With the football season still suspended for the time being, the way in which the campaign will eventually be completed is still far from certain, with the prospect of no more games being played this season still seemingly a possibility.

If that does happen, then issues around promotion and relegation will also have to be decided, and speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this week, Football League chairman Rick Parry insistied that making those decisions now would be "premature" and that the issue would need a "fair and balanced answer".

Whelan however, believes that with Leeds and West Brom seven and six points clear of third-placed Fulham respectively with nine games of the season remaining, there could be few arguments against promoting those two sides based on the current standings if necessary.

Speaking to Football Insider about the prospect of deciding promotion based on the current standings, Whelan said: “There are going to be tears but there can only be tears for the people who are going to cry about things because they’ve not been good enough this season.

“It’s as simple as that, we’ve played over three-quarters of the games, only nine games left, they are where they are for a reason. We keep talking about a midway point, which is December, January, where you know what you’re fighting for.

“If you’ve not been good enough until that point, you know what you’re going to be battling for till the end of the season.

"No one could have thought anything like this was going to happen, it’s unprecedented, but where you stand is a reflection on how you’ve done this season.

“I don’t see any problems with that. If it needs to be two or three go up, they go up. They’ve been the best three teams in the Championship up until now. They’ve won more games, been more consistent, won more points.

"I don’t see how any of the teams can grumble about that – the three up there have been better than the other lot, simple as.”

That battle for third could be somewhat more complicated were it to happen on the basis of the current standings, with Fulham four points clear of both Brentford and Nottingham Forest in fourth and fifth place respectively.

The Verdict

I'm not sure I entirely agree with Whelan here.

Admittedly, Leeds and West Brom have been the two standout sides in the Championship this season, and they do deserve the positions in the division they currently possess.

However, that advantage they hold of six or seven points over the rest of the division is something that could easily be overhauled in the nine games remaining, something which a number of other sides in the promotion race would surely point to if Leeds and West Brom were to be handed promotion now.