Chairman of Portsmouth rivals Peterborough would be 'astonished' if football repeated coronavirus shutdown measures next season

However, he admitted he's already spoken to Posh manager Darren Ferguson to stress the need for a good start to the 2020-21 campaign just in case similar circumstances unfold.

Football ground to a halt in March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Premier League and Championship clubs eventually returned in June to ensure a natural conclusion to their seasons.

But sides at tiers three and four voted against a resumption, instead preferring final league placings – including automatic promotion and relegation spots – to be determined by an unweighted points per game (PPG) formula.

That saw Pompey, who were joined by Peterborough and four other League One clubs in opposing such a curtailment – secure their place in the play-offs, although they missed out on promotion following a penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Oxford United.

Meanwhile, the PPG method used saw the Posh drop out of their top six at the expense of Wycombe, who subsequently went to to clinch the last remaining Championship place.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis and talks of a potential second wave heading into the autumn, clubs are putting final preparations in place for the start of the 2020-21 league season.

Pompey kick-start their campaign against Shrewsbury on September 12, with Peterborough travelling to Accrington the same day.

Currently no league contingency plans are in place if there is a dramatic second spike in cases.

However, speaking in his latest The Hard Truth Podcast, MacAnthony said he would be surprised if another shutdown took place

But just in case he’s proved wrong, he wants Posh to get off to the best possible start to the season.

‘I’d be astonished if we shut anything down again,’ he said.

‘I'm hoping that football and the world are learning that shutdowns aren't the answer to what this pandemic was. It does more damage than good.

‘So I would be really, really surprised if it did get shutdown.

‘But I imagine the precedence has been set, so I've said to my manager: "whatever you do, make sure we're in the top six please at any given time, you know, from the get-go.

‘I don't think you are going to get a slow start or a bad start or whatever.

‘That's how we did it last year (a slow start), peaked at the right time, but it backfired on us.

‘What I saw last year, if I were a betting man, I don't think that's ever going to happen again.’

Like Pompey, Peterborough suffered a poor start to the 2019-20 season, failing to win any of their first three games.

Defeats to Fleetwood and Oxford, followed by a draw against Oxford, saw them sit 20th in the table on August 17.

The Blues lost 1-0 at Shrewbury on the opening day of the season, while a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on match-day three saw them sit 15th in the standings.

Both clubs accept their poor starts to the campaign contributed to them missing out on automatic promotion.