Sunderland manager Chris Coleman has defended plans to restrict ticket availability for the club's remaining home games this season.
The measures have been implemented to prevent Newcastle United fans attending their rivals' matches to celebrate in the event of the Black Cats' relegation, according to The Northern Echo.
Supporters will not be able to pay on the gate for the home meetings with Burton Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and anyone purchasing tickets in advance must have a past history of attending the Stadium of Light.
Coleman has spoken out in support of the measures, insisting that they are necessary for security purposes.
"I totally see the security side of it. I get why. Liaising with the police, you have to listen to them, I understand why because safety has to come first.
"I want to see the stadium with as many Sunderland people as we can fit, but I can understand why the club and the police have come to that decision.
"Football is football, and you're always going to get one team laughing at another. Especially if it's two derby teams. But all the Newcastle fans I bump in to have been fabulous with me. The proper Newcastle fans have been proper people.
"They want the derby games back. In any walk of life, any industry, there's a small percentage of people that are unsavoury, but the Newcastle fans I speak to want us back up there because they want the derby games."
Sunderland are currently 23rd in the Championship, six points from a position of safety with four games remaining.
Mark Langshaw
