Macclesfield Town could face a points deduction that would leave them bottom of League Two after being charged by the EFL on three counts, including failing to pay several players their March wages on time.

The matter is with an independent disciplinary commission and if the club, who have said they will contest the charges, are found guilty a points deduction is possible. Macclesfield are second bottom of League Two, three points above Stevenage.

In May Macclesfield were given a seven-point deduction for the failure to play December’s match against Plymouth and the non-payment of wages, and in March an independent hearing reduced a 10-point deduction for the non-payment of wages and for failing to fulfil a fixture against Crewe to a seven-point penalty, with three suspended. In total the club has been deducted 11 points.

The Silkmen Supporters’ Trust loaned £10,000 to help pay the remaining 20% of April wages after all players and staff were placed on to the government’s furlough job retention scheme.

An English Football League statement said: “The club has been charged with failing to pay a number of players on the applicable payment dates due in March 2020, whilst also failing to act with utmost good faith in respect of matters with the EFL and for breaching an order, requirement, direction or instruction of the league.”

Macclesfield responded by saying they would “be appealing these charges vehemently” and were “deeply surprised” by the EFL’s move. May’s wages are understood to be paid on time and in full.

The club also highlighted part of an independent panel’s findings from May’s hearing, which stated: “The commission should make it clear that it does not consider that MTFC’s tardiness (yet again) to pay the players’ remuneration for March on time necessarily requires a further charge. Given its reasoning and conclusions as above, it would require strong persuasion to impose a yet further points deduction for any such breach (albeit the sixth monthly failure this season to pay players promptly).”

The league has stipulated that promotion and relegation should take place in all of its leagues, despite an overwhelming majority of League Two clubs indicating a preference to curtail the season without relegating the bottom club.