SPECTATORS will reportedly be in attendance for Saints’ FA Cup semi-final showdown against Leicester at Wembley later this month.

Sky Sports claim the last-four clash, set to take place at the home of English football on April 18 (6pm), will see 4,000 local residents allowed to attend the fixture.

The Daily Mail says those in attendance are expected to be residents of the borough of Brent, rather than fans of the clubs.

The contest is reportedly being run as a test event for the return of spectators to stadiums, as the government looks to ease lockdown restrictions in the coming months.

Stadiums in England have not been used at full capacity since the original lockdown restrictions were enforced 12 months ago, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fans in minimal numbers were briefly allowed to attend sporting fixtures in England during the use of the government’s tier system, which was scrapped in December.

The current roadmap out of lockdown in England allowed grassroots outdoor sport to resume on Monday.

The third step of the easing of restrictions on May 17 at the earliest would allow stadia to open with a 25 per cent capacity limit, up to a maximum of 10,000 spectators.

The current plan is then for all restrictions on social contact to be lifted on June 21.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden this week said he remained hopeful a large crowd will be able to attend the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July but capacity is still to be determined.