Football leaders, police and Government have held further talks to explore “a range of options” to restart the season amid the coronavirus pandemic, which could reopen the possibility of the Premier League campaign being completed on a home-and-away basis.

A number of clubs have signalled their opposition to the idea of playing out the season at neutral venues, arguing that it has too much of an impact on the integrity of the competition.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said there was “ongoing dialogue” on the subject and now the UK’s national football policing lead, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts of South Yorkshire Police, said “positive” discussions had been held on Monday evening.

“We have to be open-minded. There’s a balance between what you hope can be done and what is realistic to achieve.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has come out against the idea of playing matches in London at this stage, a city badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

His spokesperson told the Evening Standard: “Sadiq is extremely keen for the Premier League and professional sport in general to resume. However, with the country still in the grips of this crisis, and hundreds of people dying every day, he believes that it is too early to be discussing the resumption of the Premier League and top-flight sport in the capital.

“As a Liverpool fan, Sadiq of course wants the Premier League to return, but it can only happen when it is safe to do so, and it cannot place any extra burden on the NHS and emergency services.”