TIM Waddington insists it makes sense for Colchester United to shut part of their ground for this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Sheffield United.

But the U’s are still hopeful that supporters will turn out in numbers for their first-round clash against the Blades, this Saturday.

The U’s will only open three corners of their Weston Homes Community Stadium for the game.

The East Stand will be closed with home fans reallocated seats to an area of the West Stand, where family friendly ticket pricing is available.

Around 500 Sheffield United supporters are expected to make the trip down to north Essex and they will be situated in the North Stand.

U’s general manager Waddington said: “It makes sense to trim it down to something that we can manage and try and make it as good an atmosphere as possible.

“It’s partly for commercial reasons and partly because we want people who come to the game to get the best experience possible.

“We needed to maximise what we have and logistically, in terms of being able to deal with things like spectators, catering, exit doors and stewarding, the North Stand is more cost effective.

“We’ve trimmed down the level of hospitality for the game, because we know that the level of demand won’t be there.

“We fully appreciate that some people will not be able to sit in their normal seats and we will make provisions for that accordingly.

“I’d love there to be more people coming and it’s a FA Cup tie that deserves to have a big crowd.

“It’s a shame but we have to react to demand and realistically, we can’t pretend that we’re going to attract a crowd of 10,000 for the game.

“I’d love a bigger crowd to be there but realistically, at the moment it’s going to be between 3,000-3,500 based on what we’ve sold so far.

“It’s quite a short run into the game, in terms of when the draw was made and when the fixture takes place."