Former Premier League midfielder says Leeds United and West Brom warrant immediate promotion if season is scrapped

The Premier League and EFL seasons remain suspended in the nation's battle against coronavirus with the country on lockdown until at least May 7.

Both the Premier League and EFL intend to complete their remaining fixtures when it is safe to do so but several other league across Europe have already been cancelled including those in France, Holland and Belgium.

In the event that the English season cannot be completed, a wide range of possible solutions have been mooted from null and voiding the season to letting current placings stand or settling positions via points per game.

Leeds sit top of the Championship and hold a seven-point cushion in the automatic promotion places with just nine games left.

West Brom are just one point behind Leeds and six points ahead of third-placed Fulham while in the Premier League runaway leaders Liverpool need just two more wins to be crowned champions of England for the first time since 1990.

And with continued doubts as to how the season can be ended, O'Hara believes Liverpool should be crowned champions with Leeds and West Brom promoted but with no teams relegated from the top flight this term and instead five going down in 2021.

"Points per game doesn't work for me because football is so unpredictable and so many teams can win games that you think they might not have won," said former Premier League midfielder and now Billericay Town player-manager O'Hara on talkSPORT.

"It just doesn't work.

"I said it at the start of this when it first happened and there was talk about null and voiding the season and I said the best case scenario is we find a vaccine and then we can come out of this and get back.

"It is getting to the point where we can't come back and is it safe to do?

"Footballers are not guinea pigs.

“You can’t expect footballers to come back to make everyone feel better and lift morale and all the bigwigs get the money because there are so many financial implications around the Premier League.

“It’s like ‘oh, we’ve got to get footballers back’.

"That's not fair. The health and safety of the players and everyone involved in the teams is paramount.

“For me, I don't think you can punish people and you can’t relegate people so I think you make Liverpool champions, you have no relegation, Leeds and West Brom come up and five go down the next season.

“Imagine a season with Leeds and West Brom in it and all the teams fighting again. It will be brilliant.

“It’s hard luck on teams like Fulham and Nottingham Forest who are in the play-offs but you weren’t there after 75 per cent of the season.

“Let them go up and then just don’t relegate the other teams.”