The return of football fans to stadiums will be included in Boris Johnson’s road map out of lockdown, due to be published later today, Sportsmail can reveal.
But the Carabao Cup final on April 25 between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur is expected to come too soon to be allowed spectators, as the Prime Minister maintains a cautious approach to lifting the lockdown.
The cabinet agreed the roadmap on Sunday, which is based on opening schools from March 8 and then gradually allowing normal life to return.
The Prime Minister has set four tests for easing the lockdown restrictions, which include successful deployment of the vaccine and measures around hospitalisation and deaths, as well as monitoring for new virulent strains of the virus.