Manchester United to close entire tier of Old Trafford

The Old Trafford stadium

The attendance for the match could drop below the 60,000 mark with supporters uninterested in watching United in Europe's secondary competition

Manchester United are set to close an entire tier of Old Trafford due to lack of interest in the club's upcoming Europa League tie with Midtjylland.

The Red Devils will return to European action with a trip to Denmark for the last-32 first leg tie on 18 February.

But interest in the second leg a week later has proved so low that the club are set to close the 5,000-capacity third tier of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand for the match.

Supporters are currently not able to buy tickets for the third tier of the stand on United's official website and the club has written to fans who have already bought tickets to inform  they are being relocated.

United claim the supporters are being moved to better seats at no extra cost.

The Red Devils had hoped to increase interest in the match by reducing ticket prices by 25% in all areas of the stadium but the plan hasn't worked.

Season ticket holders were given the option to opt out of obligatorily buying tickets for the competition, which has also affected the projected attendance.

United's lowest attendance in recent years came when they were last in the Europa League four years ago..

Just 59,265 people rocked up to see the 3-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao in 2012 and it is feared that figure could be even lower for the clash with Midtjylland.