Manchester United have stood by their decision to reduce Manchester City's away allocation for the League Cup semi-final despite concern some home tickets may be bought by away fans.
A mutual decision was reached by both City and United ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final fixtures that the away allocations for both sets of supporters would be set to the usual Premier League guidelines. That means around 3,000 tickets have been made available for travelling fans for both games, a big reduction on the circa 7,000 City should have been given and the 5,500 United should have received.
The decision, which was made on safety grounds, has been criticised by fan groups from both sides of the city who called for the club to fulfil the 10 per cent allocation which the EFL rules advise.
Since then tickets for the Tuesday night's clash at Old Trafford have gone on general sale, not abnormal for a Carabao Cup game, which has sparked some concern that City fans could buy tickets in the home end with the potential for trouble inside the ground. Although there are checks in place for supporters buying tickets on the club website, there is nothing to prevent away fans buying tickets for the home end.
Despite these concerns United are confident that will not be the case and are standing by their decision to slash the away allocation.
“We have a series of measures in place to minimise any risks at Tuesday's fixture," a club spokesperson told MEN Sport. "These include limits on the number of tickets sold to any one party, identity checks at the point of purchase, and increased policing, stewarding and crowd surveillance both inside and outside the ground.
"Anyone visibly or audibly supporting the away team in home areas will be denied entry to the ground or ejected during the game.”
As is the norm for derbies and high profile games at Old Trafford there will be extra stewards and police on duty at the ground both inside and outside the stadium.
Despite the potential for away fans buying tickets in the home end, it is understood the feeling is that several thousand additional away fans, if City had been given their full allocation, would have posed a greater security challenge than the risk of potential away fans in home sections.