Derby County handed another boost in their bid to return to action

Derby County news: The Rams returned to non-contact training earlier this week and could be back in contact training by as early as next week as return to action nears

Derby County could be set to start contact training next week in a boost to their hopes of finishing the campaign and securing a play-off place in the Championship.

England's second-tier remains hopeful of returning to action next month, with teams including the Rams returning to non-contact training in small groups on Monday.

With nine matches left to be played by each club, there remains a strong desire from the majority of Championship sides to ensure the season is completed on the pitch.

Derby will be keen to see out the season with the Pride Park side sitting in 12th place, only five points off the play-offs after back-to-back wins before the coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of matches.

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Phillip Cocu 's side have thrust themselves into the play-off picture after a turbulent campaign and the club's remaining matches offer them a chance to put together an unlikely charge to the top-six and now, according to a new report from The Telegraph, the EFL will send proposals for 'Phase 2' training protocols to clubs on Thursday.

The report goes on to claim that a decision is then likely to be made on Monday, with the implementation of the phase, should the vote be passed, likely to come as early as the next day.

Should everything be passed, then that would give clubs at least three weeks of full training, ahead of a possible restart on either June 19 or the 26th.

The EFL board of directors met again on Wednesday to discuss steps to end the 2019-20 season.

EFL chief executive Rick Parry met with his fellow board members and to try and come up with a framework for how the final table should look if the season cannot be completed.

Once that framework has been passed by the EFL board, clubs in the competition will then vote on the plan, with a 51 percent majority needed for each idea to go through.

The Telegraph report also claims that the futures of League One and League Two's were discussed at Wednesday's meeting.

And just like before the meeting, the outcome on how to finish their respective divisions remains up in the air, with discussions with both leagues set to continue over the next few days.