Saints could find themselves with yet another postponement if the news on the official Charlton website is to be believed.  .

Saints game with Charlton Athletic at the Valley on Boxing Day is already in some doubt with the weather,

With the South east suffering heavily in the recent snow Charlton groundstaff have been working hard to try and get the game on, on Tuesday they removed the covering that has been on the pitch to find some parts are playable but others are frozen solid and with more sub zero temperatures predicted between now and Sunday ther eis doubt whether the pitch will thaw.

The groundstaff are a little in the lap of the gods and are reliant on the temperatures rising sufficiently to thaw out the pitch and there being no more snow.

But the real problem is not the pitch itself butt the areas around the stadium as well as several areas of seating and concourses that are affected by ice. Although the roads are now clear around the Valley, the pavements are treacherous and again it needs a thaw and no further snow, especially because  if it does snow  that could freeze the roads up again as well as the pavements. At this moment in time the forecast for the area is that there could be more snow, but more likely just low temperatures with Xmas night seeing a drop to -4, so this is not good news at present  

At the moment Charlton can do nothing but work hard and pray that the weather starts to improve, although they will be monitoring the situation throughout the week, on Friday they will have to make a decision based on the current conditions as well as forecasted ones, as to whether to call the game off then or if they can make a later decision. 

For their part Charlton are bringing plenty of salt and grit in an effort to clear the surrounding pavements and on their official webiste re iterate their commitment to getting the game played. 

Photo: Action Images

Spot51 added 08:36 - Dec 22 Reminds me of my youth. Fixture backlogs were a permanent feature of each football season. And when it all thawed the pitches turned to glue pots. If you think the playing surface at The Dell was dodgy, remember I've watched winter football at The Baseball Ground FFS! These modern day Fancy Dan so-called footballers with their Bentleys and their snoods have it much too easy. Be good to see them earn their extravagant salaries playing in the conditions that Chopper Harris, Jackie Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Colin Todd and Terry Paine used to play in - week in, week out.

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