Next week’s Carabao Cup ties at Newcastle and Southampton will be played a day earlier than scheduled due to planned strike action by medical services.
The Magpies’ fourth-round clash with Premier League rivals Bournemouth at St James’ Park has been moved forward to Tuesday, December 20, while Saints will host League One Lincoln at St Mary’s on the same evening. Both fixtures, which kick-off at 7.45pm, had originally been arranged for Wednesday, December 21.
Strikes are taking place in some parts of the NHS on December 15, 20, 21 and 28.
A statement from Newcastle read: "United had been set to face the Cherries at St James' Park a week on Wednesday but due to the planned action - which affects North East Ambulance Service, the club's long-standing provider of ambulances, paramedics and match command - the game will now be played a day earlier on Tuesday, 20th December with kick-off set for 7:45pm.
"The planned strike action has significant safety implications on the club's matchday medical provisions.
"Local authority have informed the club that even if private ambulance service provision was secured for the fixture, medical and safety protocols - including the major incident plan and the spectator safety medical plan - would need to be reviewed and redrafted with any new medical provider and presented to the Safety Advisory Group for approval.
"This process would be unlikely to be completed satisfactorily within the timeframe available. In order to effectively plan and resource for the safety of all supporters attending the fixture, and to give fans of both clubs as much notice as possible of the change in circumstances, the decision has been made to move the game to Tuesday night.
"All tickets purchased for the match will still be valid. Further details regarding ticket refunds will be confirmed in due course."
A Southampton statement read: “A number of solutions were carefully considered, but it was decided that this was the only suitable outcome to maintain the level of safety required for the match to take place.”
Tickets already purchased for the two matches remain valid.
Manchester United are in talks with authorities over their home match with Burnley on December 21 too, while Blackburn Rovers had already made contingency plans to host Nottingham Forest on the same day.
