Man United's FA Cup fourth round game may have to be moved to a neutral venue as problems emerge

Manchester United could play their FA Cup fourth round clash at a neutral ground as Eastleigh await a decision about their stadium.

Man United booked their spot in the next round of the competition after beating League One outfit Wigan Athletic 2-0 on Monday.

Goals from Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes, who won a controversial penalty, saw the Red Devils avoid a cup upset.

They have been paired with either Newport County or Eastleigh in the fourth round.

The tie is set for the weekend of January 27 as Eastleigh and Newport go head-to-head next Tuesday to determine who plays Erik ten Hag's side.

Eastleigh host Newport at the Silverlake Stadium, with the Hampshire-based club already making plans should they meet Man United.

There are safety concerns around ticket demand if Eastleigh were to host Man United as their home ground only seats 5,192 fans.

The club's statement read: "We clearly have a very difficult fixture to navigate first against a very good team who will be equally as determined to win the game and it is our preference to focus on this fixture."

General view of Silverlake Stadium. Image: Getty

They also touched on the challenges of potentially entertaining Man United, adding: "However, the logistical issues for a club of our size in playing a club the size of Manchester United means we do need to explore and communicate certain provisional plans in the hope of reducing the understandable high volume of calls we are dealing with."

The statement continued: "We are unable to confirm potential ticket allocations or prices, however we can confirm that the fixture would be played at our home stadium unless our Safety Advisory Group feels the club cannot stage the match safely, which we feel is extremely unlikely.

"We are exploring the possibility of extending our temporary seating to increase capacity to enable more fans to attend should we be successful."

If the Safety Advisory Group come to the decision that Eastleigh's home ground is not fit to host Man United, then a new venue will be picked to host the fixture - the club is permitted to locate the nearest suitable stadium, per FA rules.

Topics: Football, Manchester United, FA Cup

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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