The Magpies host Southampton in a Premier League clash at St. James' Park at 2pm and fans are being advised by Nexus - the public body which owns and manages Metro - to travel earlier as trains will be busy and delays are likely.

None of the usual extra matchday Metro services will be operating as a result of an ongoing overtime ban by the RMT union, one of the trade unions that represents Metro train crew.

According to Nexus, trains are being cancelled at short notice due to lack of cover when a member of train crew becomes unavailable at short notice. This means that Metro services are busier and less frequent.

Metro Services Director, Chris Carson, said: "The message to Newcastle United fans is to travel earlier on Sunday so that they get into the city centre in plenty of time for the Southampton game at 2pm.

"Due to the ongoing industrial action we expect trains to be much busier and frequencies of services will be affected. Unfortunately we are not able to provide the extra match day trains on Sunday as we usually do and Nexus apologies for any inconvenience caused.

"Metros will be running to all destinations but service levels are fluctuating due to the industrial action, so we want fans to make sure they plan ahead and leave plenty of time to get to the game."

Passengers are advised to allow for extra journey time and check for information before they travel via nexus.org.uk and on Twitter @My_Metro, where full details of the Metro’s service status are available.

Nexus is publishing the predicted level of Metro service frequency in advance of each day here: https://www.nexus.org.uk/travelling-metro-during-industrial-action.