Everton kick-off delayed at new stadium

Large queues appeared to form outside Hill Dickinson Stadium before kick-off on Wednesday

Kick-off for Everton's Carabao Cup second round tie against Mansfield was delayed on Wednesday to allow supporters "safe access" into the new Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The match was scheduled to begin at 19:45 BST but was put back by 15 minutes, with a large number of empty seats visible as the match got under way.

Everton said on 16 August that the tie was "sold out" at the 52,700 capacity venue, with 48,583 announced as the official attendance during the 2-0 victory.

The Hill Dickinson Stadium hosted its first official match on Sunday, as the Toffees beat Brighton 2-0 in the Premier League.

On the day of the EFL Cup match, Everton's social media channels including the fan services account on X were inundated with supporters complaining about apparent ticketing issues.

The move to the new stadium from Goodison Park has seen physical tickets replaced by a digital app, but some fans said they had not received their match tickets into their wallet by Wednesday afternoon.

In a statement, the club said the match was delayed "to ensure all supporters have safe access into Hill Dickinson Stadium in time for kick-off".

Club sources told BBC Sport both home and away supporters were affected in trying to get access into the stadium, though the problems were not related to the digital tickets on the app.

The small number that did have issues were able to have them resolved at the box office before making their way to the turnstiles, where extensive queues seemed to have formed.