Oliver Dowden has told football fans he is pushing for them to return to stadia when the current lockdown ends.

He has also revealed the role Covid testing could play in getting the crowds back.

The Secretary of State told TalkSPORT: “Fans need football and football needs fans and this is a really big priority for me.

“We have made great progress in the run-up to September in making it safer for fans to come back to stadiums.

“I pushed hard to get them back from the 1st. We couldn’t agree it in the end and I think with hindsight it was probably the right call because they certainly wouldn’t have been allowed in when we went into this second national lockdown.

“That ends on December 2, we are now having discussions about what it will look like after December 2.

“We will go back into the tiers. I have to warn you the tiers are going to have to be pretty tough to keep this under control.

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“But I am certainly making the case for fans to start coming back in a safe way as part of that process and I hope to be successful in that.

“I said at the beginning of October that the long-stop date, the end, was the end of March but I hope to be able to do it sooner than that.”

Dowden says testing could be a key part of his plan to re-open the stands.

He added: “I think it’s a real opportunity to incentivise people to take the Covid test by saying, if you take the Covid test, then you are in the clear and you can go safely into stadiums and watch matches.”