Aston Villa chief Christian Purslow against neutral grounds proposal

The use of between eight and 10 neutral venues is part of Project Restart, with clubs told last week it represents the safest way to resume a campaign suspended since March by the coronavirus pandemic.

But a number of clubs, particularly those near the bottom of the table, are unhappy with a proposal they believe puts them at a disadvantage.

Villa, 19th in the table, were due to play six of their remaining 10 matches at home, where they have picked up 17 of their 25 points so far.

Speaking on Wednesday, Purslow said he would only agree to the use of neutral venues “if the circumstances were right” though he did not specify what those would be.

Clubs have already accepted matches will need to take place behind closed doors but Purslow told TalkSport: “Neutral grounds is something we are going to have to look at carefully. Personally, I am against it.

“We are a club which prides itself on its home form. We have six home games left to play and I think any Villa fan would agree giving up that advantage is a massive decision for somebody running the club.

“I would not agree to that unless the circumstances are right.”

Though Purslow insisted the notion of scrapping relegation, even were the season completed, had not been discussed, he did shine light on the varying agendas driving clubs at the top and bottom of the table.

While accepting the cost for those at the top is running into the tens of millions, Purslow warned those at the bottom are concerned by the “£200m catastrophe” of relegation.

He explained: “At the bottom of the league none of us are playing in Europe, none of us are generating millions of pounds on matchday.

“The risk of relegation is probably a £200m catastrophe for any club that can still go down.

“When you say to any club at the bottom 'look, we want you to agree to a bunch of rule changes which may make it more likely you get relegated', they are not thinking about TV money, they are thinking ‘my goodness, am I going to agree to something here which results in us being relegated and losing £200m?’

“There are no rights and wrongs here. Every club has to protect its own financial position and the positions are wildly different from top to bottom in our league. Hence the need to find something which works for everyone.”