THE Northern Premier League have confirmed they will restart fixtures on Saturday.

Following the government’s announcement that a small number of fans could attend matches in Tier 3 areas, the league say they received “a high number of requests” from teams to play league games on December 19.

It is not known whether Witton Albion are one of those teams – they were due to travel to FC United of Manchester on Saturday.

However, should they beat Cheshire rivals Nantwich Town in the FA Trophy tonight, their third-round clash with either Hereford FC or St Neots Town would be held on Saturday.

Instead, their return to league action will be the hosting of neighbours Warrington Town on Boxing Day, when a full fixture list will resume.

In a statement released yesterday, the Trident Leagues – the NPL, Isthmian and Southern Leagues – had agreed to wait until after the government’s first review of the tier system on Wednesday before making any decisions.

However, the NPL board has decided to permit teams to play fixtures this coming Saturday with a 3pm kick off.

Carl Macauley’s men have not played a league game since a 2-1 win over Atherton Collieries on October 24.

Fixtures were paused during November's national lockdown but while non-elite football could resume from December 2, clubs voted to continue the stoppage after the majority of NPL clubs were placed under Tier 3 restrictions, meaning games had to be played behind closed doors.

Once the government gave ground on that issue, however, it paved the way for fixtures to return.