Premier League run 'laughing stock' risk as Sheffield United among clubs waiting on FFP verdicts

Sheffield United may have to wait until after the season has ended to learn their Premier League fate. The Blades are currently rooted to the foot of the table and after winning just three games all season, they are 10 points adrift of safety in the top flight.

With 10 games to go, though, Chris Wilder's side still have 30 points to play for and they'll be striving to find some traction for the first time this season and make a late push for survival. Supporters will be keeping a close eye on the fates of Everton and Nottingham Forest, too, with both teams set to be punished by the Premier League for breaching the competitions Profitability and Sustainability rules.

The two clubs run the risk of points deductions and given where they sit in the table at present, with Forest in 17th and three points above the drop zone and Everton a point and a league place better off, it seems the battle to avoid relegation could be set to take a late twist.

Of course, United have a duty to do all they can over the remaining two months of the campaign to at least make things interesting, but according to former Everton and Aston Villa CEO Keith Wyness, the end of the Premier League season might not provide relegation clarity.

Wyness suggests an initial punishment could be announced sooner rather than later, but he fears the appeals that are expected to follow could delay the process until the end of May, with a backstop date being set for May 24, five days after the end of the campaign.

"I believe that the hearings were held last week and this week," he told Football Insider. “The calendar now says that any appeals would have to be heard in the last week of the season, or possibly the week after the season has ended.

“If that happens, it will be ridiculous. The league will be a laughing stock because relegation could be decided after the season ends. We are running out of time. It’s the Premier League’s own making. If all these appeals happen, which they may well do – it becomes even more frustrating."