Why Sunderland have received fewer Wembley tickets than Portsmouth for the Checkatrade Trophy final

The Black Cats will face-off against Pompey on Sunday, March 31 after battling past Bristol Rovers on Tuesday evening.

And with Wembley fever gripping Wearside, ticket allocations for the highly-anticipated final have now been announced - although some Sunderland fans are far from happy.

While Sunderland have been handed 38,979 tickets for the clash, their opponents have received an allocation of 39,659.

This left some supporters disappointed at the smaller number of tickets handed to the Black Cats - but there is a simple explanation as to why the Wearsiders have a smaller allocation.

Sunderland will be situated on the east side of Wembley for the final, and this side of the stadium has approximately 500 fewer seats than the western half of the stadium.

This is because there are additional executive seats in the east stand, meaning that there are simply less tickets available in that half of the stadium - hence Sunderland's slightly smaller allocation.

However, owner Stewart Donald has confirmed that the Black Cats are attempting to increase the numbers of tickets available to their supporters,

In a reply to a supporter on twitter, Donald said the club were 'trying' to seal a higher allocation.

Sunderland can ask the EFL for more tickets and they will make the final decision on an allocation.

Southampton were awarded the highest allocation in the competition's history when they faced Carlisle United in 2010 - the Saints taking 44,000 fans to Wembley,