Steve Bruce says that Newcastle United players must remember their responsibility to lift fans ahead of a month-long lockdown.
The Magpies head to Southampton on Friday night for the first game of this season in which fans can't even take in the action from their local pub or city centre bars.
Bruce's side can nudge up to third place with a win on the South Coast, and the Toon boss said: "The last time when we came out of lockdown the number of people I bumped into said watching the match gave them something.
"How lucky are we? We can keep on watching and performing.
"If that gives everybody a lift then great."
Bruce knows how tough the new lockdown restrictions will be for the public and added: "It's important for everybody to follow the rules.
"We are in a situation that none of us have been in before.
"The lockdown rules are straight-forward. The complication in the past was they weren't clear."
