With their lengthy injury and suspension list, many believe that Charlton were the beneficiaries of Saturday’s postponement.
And with Sheffield United unexpectedly only drawing with Gillingham at Bramall Lane, Scunthorpe would have had the opportunity to take advantage of the Blades’ slip.
But the Iron have not been in great form on the road, losing three, drawing one and winning just one of their last five away games.
Added to that, the Iron would have been without defenders, Conor Townsend and Scott Wiseman, as well as strike duo, Paddy Madden and Kevin van Veen.
Overnight conditions meant that calling the game off was little more than a formality as referee, Dean Whitestone explained:
“The pitch has been covered and I’ve come in early today following a few concerns about it.
“I’ve had a good look at it, have spoken to the groundsman and have taken in as much information as possible.
“Both teams’ managers are here and, as a result of the inspection, the pitch is clearly frozen and very hard all over.
“It’s not playable or safe to start a football game with the pitch in this condition. From my point of view, it is a relatively straight forward decision.
“It’s disappointing because I’d like the game to go ahead but I don’t think it is going to get much better with the current forecast as it is.”
Charlton’s head groundsman, Nathan Chapman, added:
”The cold weather temperatures went down to around minus six last night and we’ve had that continuously for the last week or so.
“The pitch has been covered constantly. When there has been sun, we have split the covers to try and get some heat back into the soil but unfortunately the conditions have beaten us.”
Chapman also explained the situation with the club’s undersoil heating system:
“When we had the reconstruction of the pitch done, we installed the pipework under the pitch as it is a stipulation for the Premier League.
“It’s very, very expensive to run so we don’t have the boilers. We believed that the covers would suffice for now but, with the temperatures that we have had, the weather has beaten us.”
The covers are effective for dealing with temperatures as low as minus four, but with temperatures of minus five and minus six this week, the pitch was always going to be a problem.
TAGS: Charlton Athletic