Dennis Wise decided long before he bailed out of Leeds United that banking on the return of the club's deducted 15 points was a false economy, and McAllister has adopted the same tact.

"I absolutely ignore it," he said last month.

"It's something that happened when I wasn't here and I don't really want to be dragged into it at all."

He might well detach himself from a battle which, while potentially his concern, is clearly not his fight.

In their matchday programme, United still print the "real" League One table – a revised division which ignores their deduction – but there are no prizes on offer for wit this season.

Nor will the joke raise many laughs if Leeds are excluded from the play-offs in May.

Whatever the outcome of independent arbitration next month, the decision will come too late in the season for Leeds or any other club to react to the decision in a meaningful manner.

If Leeds are elevated to second position, as they would be with the return of 15 points today, McAllister's players are likely to remain there.

But a ruling against United would leave a maximum of only three games with which to negate any gap between Leeds and the top six.

McAllister's only stipulation for the week commencing April 14 will be that United are in possession of a play-off position by the time the tribunal begins.

The make-up of the division is such with 12 matches remaining that United are still likely to need at least a further 23 points – with or without arbitrational assistance – to ensure that they do not fall short at the end of a tempestuous season.

Tranmere Rovers are the holders of the last play-off position, and the Birkenhead club are a possible example of how the division will develop over the next eight weeks.

Last season, Tranmere were sixth in the division with 11 games left, sat on 53 points.

This term, Ronnie Moore's side hold an identical standing with an identical number of outstanding fixtures, and have gathered one point fewer.

It took 73 points to claim a top-six finish at the end of the 2006-07 season, and McAllister would be wise to chase the same target.

As many as 14 clubs have a strong, realistic or slim chance of meeting that total, which is why United's victory at Swindon Town last weekend was such a crucial result, and not before time.

The idea that Leeds can compensate easily for a sequence of meek form has been disproved by the numbers of teams who liked their chances of the play-offs at Christmas and are still in business with two months to go.

United have been slightly fortunate that, after allowing their own form to go south, the results of certain other clubs did likewise.

Tranmere have failed to win four of their five games since beating Leeds at Elland Road at the start of last month, and Leyton Orient have been weighed down by their own run of one victory from eight fixtures.

Martin Ling's suggestion that Orient will begin judicial proceedings if Leeds deprive them of sixth place with the aid of a favourable arbitration tribunal is more than a little presumptuous. His club are still a 20-1 shot for promotion, and by no means outstanding value.

McAllister should not worry about outside interference in the 15-point saga any more than he is concentrating on arbitration itself. The only concern for him is the fact that the season from here will be shaped by United's next three games, from which they must maximise their takings.

Bournemouth are in administration and virtually relegated; Cheltenham Town's away record, meanwhile, is shocking.

And the less said about Port Vale's results the better.
With the right amount of respect and a certain level of performance, those matches will go a long way to ensuring that next month's arbitration tribunal does not become United's get-out-of-jail-free card.

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DURING correspondence between Leeds United and the Football League last week, the club put forward a valid argument for making the internal dispute over their 15-point deduction a public affair.

A letter sent to the League from Elland Road stated: "An open hearing would assist the press and the public in forming their own view of the issues involved, rather than relying on the interpretation of Mr Bates and Lord Mawhinney."

The suggestion went unheeded, and next month's arbitration hearing into United's penalty will be staged in private.

A confidential tribunal seems to fall short of one half of Ken Bates' demands – that the 15-point punishment be discussed not only independently, but also publicly.

For that reason, there is no guarantee that next month's tribunal will automatically bring closure, especially if the three-man panel support the Football League as Lord Brian Mawhinney, pictured above, believes they will.

The Football League expect to see the deduction upheld, just as Leeds believe their injustice is tangible.

Six months after the punishment was first decreed, the lack of clarity over so many issues is the source of immense frustration for the people who have no direct involvement with either party, but who stand to be affected by a ruling in United's favour.

The tribunal will be staged during the week commencing April 14, a stone's throw from the end of the season, and an argument which began in August of last year should never have been allowed to fester for so long.

It will be bad enough if the Football League are found to have treated United unfairly, and worse still if they are compelled to alter the League One table a fortnight before the season concludes.

As delighted as Leeds might be, the situation would be an embarrassment to the English game and place the Football League's board in an untenable position.