Saints are expecting a healthy crowd for the visit of Newcastle United both in terms of numbers and in regard to the current issues with the Corona Virus.

Ticket sales are good for the visit of Newcastle United with both clubs neck and neck in the battle to get over the safety line to avoid relegation.

Saints start the game 2 points ahead of the Geordies and know that a win will put them 5 points clear and leave the visitors going home looking over their shoulders whilst we will be on the cusp of survival.

A defeat would see the Toon Army leapfrog over us and although not exactly pushing us back into the relegation dogfight it would mean we sweat a little more than we really should be at this stage.

Seven points clear of the relegation bottom three is a big gap to make up and we have to make sure that we keep that daylight between us and the bottom three.

A look at the ticket page on Saints official website shows that there are only around 1,500 tickets left in the general seating areas and assuming that Newcastle having taken the full allocation have sold it out or near to that, then it should be another 30k plus crowd at St Mary's perhaps more if their is a late surge.

But of course the Corona Virus is a big issue at the moment and Ralph Hasenhuttl has already introduced measures on the training ground.

“I still hope that this virus will still not be that big, but we must pay attention and not get too much panic about it.

“What you can do is keep your hands clean and try to avoid contact, selfies or autographs at the moment.

“We should let go to avoid contact and that means no more handshakes in the morning.

“We need to keep it from spreading but we also shouldn’t panic too much.”

So Saints fans should not get too upset of the players avoid too much contact with them on Saturday as it seems that the club are advising the players not to get too close.

This is something that they have been doing to a limited degree during the winter months even before this outbreak, Saints have issued their players with ‘winter packs’ which includes essentials such as probiotics and hand sanitiser.

And from the end of November, they try to encourage their players to fist-bump fans as opposed to shaking hands in order to help prevent the spread of sickness bugs and colds.

Supporters in the stands can make sure they are careful as well, football is an emotional game where supporters often find themselves shaking hands, high fiving and even hugging people next to them when goals are scored, even when they have no idea who that person is.

That being the case it might be advisable to keep all celebrations personal, I'm not sure that a fist bump or high five is anymore safer than a handshake, so until we know the real extent of things it is better to keep safer than sorry with things.

For your information please click on the link below for the Government tips on staying safe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51711227

This could also be an issue with entering the ground when various searches take place and I will be interested to see what guidelines if any that the club issue on this.

The main thing though is that everyone stays fit and healthy and from a Saints perspective our supporters go home with a smile on their face.

Photo: Action Images

aceofthebase added 15:46 - Mar 5 A healthy crowd is a must
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SAINTSNIL added 17:41 - Mar 5 Not worried about anybody in our defence catching it then,probably wont get near enough to their players and McCarthy can't catch anything at the moment ,so he is definitely going to be ok!
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darthvader added 17:55 - Mar 5 I normally am so shocked that we scored a goal my celebrations are so that everyone tells me no tongues, let alone stranger hugs
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dirk_doone added 18:25 - Mar 5 A new song to sing to the away fans on Saturday: "You're going home with corona virus."
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