Town chief executive Derek Bowden has explained why the Blues have given Swansea City almost all of the upper tier of the Cobbold Stand for Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie. The decision means some season ticket holders are unable to take up their regular seats.

Bowden told the club site: "Under FA rules, we need to provide 15% of the capacity of the stadium to the visiting club should they request it.

"Swansea have, therefore we have allocated 4,500 seats for their supporters. This has meant that virtually the entire upper Cobbold Stand has been handed over to Swansea.

"I know that this has caused frustration amongst some season ticket holders and clearly it isn't a perfect solution. However, the club has to be guided by the view of the safety team with regard to the placement of away fans. Following both play-off semi-finals against West Ham United, where fans were located in both the Cobbold and the lower Greene King Stand, it was the view of the safety team, and in particular the police, that we needed better segregation of fans in the future.

"Therefore, the decision was taken and it was communicated to all season ticket holders at the time of the season ticket mailing last year, that in the event that we progress in the FA Cup or to the play-offs, the Cobbold Stand arrangement would apply.

"I fully appreciate that it is frustrating and apologise for the inconvenience that this causes. But I am sure that supporters will understand that crowd safety is paramount and that frankly at the end of the day, we have no choice than to accept the recommendation of the safety team."

Swansea have so far sold only around 2,000 seats for Saturday's game with tickets being issued from the centre of the stand outwards.

The club have also revealed that Town fans leaving the ground will not be able to gain access to Portman Road behind the Cobbold Stand for 15 minutes after the end of the game while the police escort Swansea supporters to their coaches.

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