Ex-Middlesbrough midfielder has this warning for EFL over plans to end season

The EFL last week wrote to clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two with proposals for how it intends to finish the campaign, when safe to do so.

All football has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to Sky Sports, O’Neil, who played for Boro for four years between 2007 and 2011, said: “I think it is going to be difficult.

“We are running into a lot tighter schedule than I thought we would be.

“I think everyone thought this [the coronavirus crisis] would pass and we would start coming out of it quicker, but it is a lot more serious than maybe we all thought to start with.

“We need to get it finished somehow. Whether [the EFL] can reduce that 56 days by playing the games a bit closer together, I just think the seasons have to be finished.

“Next season can be adjusted whether you lose the league cup or lose parts of it by having fewer games.

“We have to finish this one because it has started and it's only fair on everybody fighting for promotion, everybody fighting relegation and everybody who has financial implications in where they finish in the leagues that we get the season completed.

“We worry about next season when this one is done and dusted.”