Leeds have received confirmation that a total of 1,637 tickets will be made available to them for the game at Brunton Park on Thursday, May 15 – around half the number allocated for their League One match in Cumbria at the start of November.

United's fans will be contained in the Waterworks End on the advice of Cumbria Police, who recommended that Leeds receive the lowest allocation allowed under Football League rules in an attempt to avoid a repeat of crowd problems seen during United's 3-1 defeat at Carlisle earlier in the season.

Leeds received 3,249 tickets for their trip to Brunton Park on November 3 and helped to generate Carlisle's biggest home gate for three decades, but their allowance has been slashed for next week's semi-final second leg.

The Football League's regulations stipulate that visiting clubs must be offered at least 10 per cent of a stadium's capacity or 2,000 tickets, whichever is lower, and Brunton Park is capable of holding around 16,600 fans. Leeds have provided Carlisle with exactly 2,000 seats for the first leg at Elland Road next Monday.

United will begin accepting applications for tickets for the second leg tomorrow morning, but club chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "We're disappointed with the allocation, as a lot of our supporters will be.

"It's something we have no control over and the allocation adheres to the Football League's rules.

"In a way, that's the problem with having such a big away support in a division where the capacities of the stadiums are fairly small.
"Unfortunately, a number of fans are going to miss out."

Tickets sales for United's home leg are already approaching 20,000, with the club hopeful of replicating the attendance of 38,256 generated for Saturday's 2-1 victory over Gillingham at Elland Road.

Manager Gary McAllister said: "I was looking through the league tables and looking at the teams who would be capable of pulling in 38,000 against Gillingham. I didn't pick out many. "I've got to appeal to all the people who were here to buy a ticket for Monday. It'll be a great atmosphere again."

Referees' chief Keith Hackett claims diving is no longer a "major problem" in the Premier League.

"Of course it is a controversial issue but it's under control and at present I don't see it as a major problem in our game and credit must go to the managers and players for that," he said.

Analysis on his organisation's website showed only two instances of referees being duped across 100 top-flight games this term. However, 18 players have been cautioned for simulation this season compared to eight in 2006-07.