West Ham look set to face a 10 day minimum delay before the Manchester United replay can go ahead.

Traditionally, replays went ahead three or four days after the original game, but from 1992 they are staged at least 10 days later on police advice after claiming the force needed that period make sure adequate personnel are available.

That means the earliest the replay could be played is Thursday 23th March which is the middle of an International break.

Premier League fixtures at this stage of the season will take priority and it unlikely either Crystal Palace or the Arsenal games at the Boleyn ground will be moved.

The club has already confirmed that the replay will be dependent on Thursday’s Europa League between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Should Manchester United crash out of the Europa League later this week then we should play them in a replay mid-week on week commencing 4th April with Wednesday 6th the most likely date sandwiched between the Palace and Arsenal games.

Permission would need to be given by UEFA for these dates as they fall on Champions League nights which are supposed to exclusive to the TV rights holders.

Should United stay in the Europa League by overcoming Liverpool they will play in the Europa quarter-finals over two legs on Thursday 7th April and Thursday 14th April. This would leave a logistical nightmare to fit in a FA replay and have time to sell and send out 31,500 for a semi-final.

The FA Cup semi finals at Wembley will be played on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th April.