NEWPORT County AFC fans face the prospect of being unable to watch their team at Rodney Parade but the Amber Army will provide backing on the road in England, a situation described as "madness" by an Exiles coach.

County dodged a bullet when their home League Two fixture on Boxing Day was postponed because Forest Green Rovers have a coronavirus outbreak.

That fixture against the leaders will now be rescheduled for later in the season when hopefully fans will be allowed back in the stands.

The Welsh government has ruled that supporters will not be able to attend sporting events from December 26 because of the coronavirus Omicron variant with no end date given for the restrictions.

County have three fixtures on home soil next month - Salford, Harrogate and Barrow on January 8, 15 and 29.

Their next two games are on the road and, as things stand, supporters will be allowed in the away end in England.

They travel to Leyton Orient on Wednesday, December 29 and Walsall on New Year's Day with tickets currently on sale for the Brisbane Road and Bescot encounters.

South Wales Argus:

The Exiles will hope that fans are allowed back for a run of four games on the spin from February 12 to March 5 - Oldham, Mansfield, Tranmere and a bumper crowd with Bristol Rovers.

Last season County season ticket holders got free access to iFollow for games behind closed doors at Rodney Parade, which turned out to be every home fixture of the regular season.

"The Welsh Government have overnight announced that supporters will not be allowed to attend home games," read a club statement.

"As it stands, this will impact our home game with Salford scheduled for Saturday, January 8. We will communicate further with supporters over the coming days."

Unless the UK government makes changes, the 23 other League Two clubs will still have home backing while County will play behind closed doors until given the green light.

"So 200 of us can get together inside a pub to watch a live game Boxing Day, but we can’t go to the actual game in Wales (outdoors) because of COVID," Tweeted first team coach Jarred Harvey, who used to work for Cardiff City.

"But two days later in an away game fans can travel, puts us Welsh Clubs at a massive disadvantage. Madness."

County played just one home game in front of supporters at Rodney Parade last season when a socially-distanced crowd of around 900 was allowed for the play-off first leg against Forest Green Rovers, a figure that meant a ballot was held for season ticket holders.