With just nine days until Leeds are due to open their season against Tranmere, their best hope rests with the administrators striking a new agreement with the club's creditors.

The original CVA - Company Voluntary Arrangement - was challenged by the Inland Revenue, to whom the club owed £7.7million in unpaid tax.

Leeds have requested their share in the Football League be returned for the new season based on "exceptional circumstances".

But none of the previous 41 Football League clubs have emerged from administration without a CVA and it appears Leeds' argument has been rejected.

After a four-hour meeting at Football League headquarters this week the administrators KPMG agreed to report back by tomorrow whether they would reconstitute the CVA.

If they do, Leeds would move a step closer to starting the new season in League One. If not, the clock is ticking and it is feasible Leeds could be blocked from playing.

That remains the worst case scenario and Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney insists he is "an optimist".

But he also warned that progress must be made quickly.

"We have got to resolve the situation and we have got to resolve it soon because the new season starts in nine days time," said Lord Mawhinney.

"On Tuesday we had a four-hour meeting between Leeds United, the adminitrators and us. We all agreed the best way forward was to see if the administrators could reconstitute the CVA.

"Once we have their final decision we will talk to Leeds about how to make progress.

"If the CVA could be reconstituted then Leeds United - in terms of the old company - could start the season.

"We have no control over the administrators. They understand the laws of insolvency, we understand the laws of the Football Legaue. The best way forward is close collaberation between the two.

"Part of our policy is to do whatever we can, within the rules, to ensure the continuation of or member clubs through administration.

"If you are asking me to make a prediction I don't have a crystal ball. But I am an optimist."

However, there are other major issues for which the Football League still needs to find a solution.

Key among those is the fact that the administrators sold rights to the lease of Elland Road and the player contracts to the new company, Leeds United 2007.

However, the player registrations remain with the old company. Leeds United have been told by the FA they must operate under the auspices of the old company to fulfill their pre-season fixtures.

"That is not in the gift of the administrators. The registrations are a relationship between us and the club.

"But the normal way to resolve this is for the CVA to go through and once it has been through, then there is a legal agreement as to what all the unsecured creditors get, the administrators tell us it has all been done properly."