Premier League chiefs will expect to gather a few more pieces of the jigsaw when they gather around their laptop screens again today.

And the picture they are putting together is a big one - including not just one football season but two.

Paul Barber often uses that jigsaw analogy in reference to the multi-faceted plan to get football up and running again.

To that end, the top-flight decision-makers now seem to have a lot of pieces.

Perhaps they also have the picture on the box, showing them what the finished puzzle should look like, thanks to the Bundesliga.

Now some big decisions are expected – or at least some progress towards those decisions - in the latest top-level league meeting involving the 20 clubs.

They include a start and end date for the remaining 92 top-tier fixtures.

Albion hope to play five of them at the Amex and are already looking at the process of easing key staff back to the stadium in readiness for next month.

The ‘bubble’ of employees at the training complex in Lancing will be increased slowly and where necessary as training is stepped up.

An announcement before lunchtime yesterday that all 20 clubs had approved guidelines for stage two of training came earlier in the day than expected and was surely another very positive sign that a return to action is coming.

But time is finite. As reported by The Argus earlier in the shutdown, completing next season – including both domestic cups – remains a priority.

Albion deputy chairman Barber said recently: “All clubs agree, certainly the ones I have spoken to, that we don’t want any detrimental impact on next season, so to try and protect next season we need to keep it as whole as possible, bearing in mind we will probably be facing games behind closed doors.

“I think we have got to make every effort to get the season finished within a reasonable period during the summer so that we protect next season in its entirety.

“We’ve got the European Championships at the end of it.

“I think we’ve got to be mindful that the FA and EFL are both suffering at the moment commercially.

“We want to try and respect their competitions and find a way to make sure they stay in the schedule as whole as possible so that the revenues they generate remain intact.

“It’s very important for the FA and the wider game, for the EFL, that their revenues are maintained if we can.

“On top of all of that you’ve got European competitions and international competitions. It’s hard to believe that we probably will have a major international tournament in the summer of 2021 but international managers are going to want dates, as usual, to prepare their teams and squads for that tournament.

“So, whichever way you look at it, keeping next season intact and trying to start it as close to the normal date as possible and giving ourselves as much time as possible I think is paramount.”

Premier League clubs want to assist their struggling lower division counterparts.

Albion and others like them are in no position to distribute cash handouts but playing the cup competitions is one way in which they can help.

That is why simply ditching the Carabao Cup is not as easy or desirable as some seem to think.

During his latest media conference, Barber said he could not answer a question about an expanded Premier League should this season not finish.

But he was willing to highlight the pros and cons of such a decision – and again the domestic cups were mentioned.

He said: “We haven’t got into any kind of detail like that.

“Clearly extra games is great but not if the season is already condensed.

“And, of course, you’ve got all the challenges of European fixtures and two cup competitions.

“It’s very important that the FA Cup and Carabao Cup get the opportunity to play but equally we all want the best possible sporting outcome.

“At the moment we’re very much focused on getting players back to training and then to the next stage.”

The hope is talks today bring closer a return to action as early as June 19, with games played at home and away venues and completed in time to allow the 2020-21 campaign to start in September.

Somewhere among all that will be domestic and European knockouts and a transfer widow.

A long day of assembling pieces awaits but they are getting there.