SOUTHEND United fans could be back in the North Bank for the Shrimpers' crunch play off clash with Stevenage at Roots Hall on Thursday night.

Stevenage have been limited to 900 tickets for the tie which will decide who advances to Wembley to play either Wycombe Wanderers or Plymouth Argyle.

And the club's chief executive Steve Kavanagh has revealed that could well lead to some of the North Bank being available for Blues' fans if the demand is there.

“With Stevenage having 900 tickets it means they can be limited to one exit and that makes it possible for us to open up some of the North Bank for our supporters if the demand is there,” said Kavanagh.

“We will need to sell out other areas of the ground first but there is certainly a possibility for our support to go all around the north-west corner of the ground and into the North Bank which we know is popular among our fans.

“We certainly hope to see them in there because it means we will have another big crowd for what is a huge game.”

The North Bank had always been the home for Southend's supporters until they switched to the two tiered South Stand which opened in 1994.

However, since then, fans have often spoken of their desire to return to the former stand and they have been allowed back for certain fixtures.

That could well be the case again on Thursday night and boss Phil Brown is hoping for another excellent atmosphere.

“The Southend fans are brilliant and we need them again for this second leg now,” said Brown.

“We want to see the ground full and have them behind us again because it relly does make a difference.”

Close to 7,000 tickets have already been sold for the game.

For more details contact the ticket office on 08444 770077.