Newcastle United announce their allocation for Checkatrade Trophy clash against Sunderland following club talks

Newcastle's U21s will face Jack Ross's side with a place in the quarter final of the competition at stake.

They had initially requested their full allocation of tickets in accordance with the Checkatrade Trophy rules, but Charlie Methven suggested that may not be the case last week.

"The rules of the competition are that the away team gets ten per cent of the stadium capacity," said Methven, speaking on BBC Newcastle's Total Sport.

"In our case that is just under 50,000, which would mean more or less getting 5,000 tickets and Newcastle have asked us for that allocation.

"I think our view and the view of our internal security team is that's maybe a bit high.

"There's a discussion going on with the police and with Newcastle United about finding the right balance, about having a great atmosphere inside the ground," added Methven.

"Stewart (Donald) and I are not at all fans of the whole idea of banning away fans or anything like that.

"Away fans are part of what makes the atmosphere and they want to follow their team.

"At the same time it's a question of balance and making sure we can provide a really secure environment so that everyone can enjoy the game."

Another fierce derby in the previous round was marred by crowd trouble, with Stoke City taking a number of fans to watch their U21s take on Port Vale.

Sunderland Chairman Stewart Donald said earlier this week that added costs associated with staging the game had forced the club to increase their ticket prices.

The eagerly-awaited game will take place at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday, January 8, kicking off at 7.45pm.

Tickets for the tie are priced at £15 for adults and £5 for under 16s and over 65s.

"I appreciate it has gone up but Newcastle have asked for a lot of tickets and the police bill, stewarding and general cost of the game etc is so much more due to that than the other games," he said.

“We have tried to keep it sensible & we’re certainly not likely to make much money based on costs. Just simply the cost of the fixture.

"Unlike all the other games with the volume of Newcastle fans expected to travel according to them then we have to police, steward and staff accordingly. That is I’m afraid, a completely different cost to opening one stand.

"We have tried to price sensibly. Opening one stand for a low risk game has a completely different cost base to a game against our biggest rivals who want their full allocation regardless of who is in their team.

“I have never been to a Newcastle v Sunderland game but judging by the security planning I can see why it is so expensive to stage & you can not unfortunately cover that at £3 a ticket no matter how much we would like to.”