FA play down semi-final fears

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It follows concerns that Chelsea and Blackburn have struggled to sell their allocation of tickets for Sunday's semi-final at Old Trafford. According to The Times, the clubs have a combined 16,000 seats to sell.

However, an FA spokesman is reported as saying: "We are confident we will see big crowds at Wembley for the semi-finals."

He added: "We want to make the semi-finals as accessible to as many fans as possible and Old Trafford is the biggest club ground in the country. Old Trafford and Villa Park are well-established venues for the semi-finals and are used to dealing with the logistics."

The Times quotes Mike Graham, of the Blackburn Independent Supporters Association claiming he is not surprised by the low take-up from Rovers fans.

"It`s a low-wage area," he said. "Even forking out £25 per ticket -[the minimum price] is a lot, never mind £55 [the maximum]."

Watford, who were allocated about 17,000 seats for their semi against Manchester United at Villa Park, still have around 1,500 left, according to the paper.