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Mansfield’s FA Cup tie against Wigan became the first third-round match to be postponed due to a frozen pitch and Charlton’s trip to Preston soon followed.
Temperatures around the country continue to plummet, with Everton narrowly avoiding a further backlog, following the Merseyside derby’s postponement last month, as their tie with Peterborough went ahead after an inspection on Thursday.
But with all-League One tie Mansfield vs Wigan and Championship-meets-League-One contest Preston vs Charlton pushed back to Tuesday 14 January, other ties are also in jeopardy this weekend.
Mansfield said in a statement: “Frost covers have been on the playing surface all week in an attempt to protect the pitch, however, with temperatures reaching as low as -7C in the early hours of this morning and not forecast to rise above freezing within the next 24 hours, an early decision has been made to postpone the game.”
More games are expected to be postponed over the course of the next 24 hour, with many facing late inspections to see if they can ahead.
Elsewhere Carlisle’s League Two match against MK Dons at Brunton Park on Saturday has been postponed. Oldham’s clash with Eastleigh and Fylde’s game against Sutton have been postponed in National League, along with Altrincham against Wealdstone, Barnet versus Hartlepool and Braintree’s trip to Gateshead.
Other sports are also struggling, including a race meeting at Lingfield abandoned, despite its all-weather Polytrack surface, which was described as too lumpy and deemed unrealistic to improve with insufficient time.
Saturday’s scheduled card at Kempton was also called off after a Friday morning review, while the meetings at Warwick and Wetherby had already been postponed along with Kelso’s Sunday fixture due to a frozen track.
Full list of postponed FA Cup ties
Mansfield v Wigan – to be played on Tuesday, 14 January
Preston v Charlton – to be played on Tuesday, 14 January
PA contributed to this report
