The postponement of Oxford United's Division 3 game at Kidderminster on Saturday was blasted as ludicrous last night by U's boss Ian Atkins.

Ian AtkinsHe saw the state of the pitch at Aggborough Stadium and questioned why such a hasty decision was made at 11.45am when there was still so much time left for the surface to dry out.

"The game should have been played," he said.

"It was a lovely day and although some water had settled on the pitch near the dug-outs, that would have gone had they tried to fork it or used sponges, which I know they have at Kidderminster.

"To call the game off at 11.45 when there were still three and a quarter hours to go before kick-off was ridiculous.

"It was a very hasty decision by the referee, but in fairness to him I don't think he was helped at all. When I got there the place was deserted and there was no sign of any groundstaff or any sign that the groundstaff had done any work on the pitch"

Atkins, who lives at Solihull, only half an hour from Kidderminster, was at the ground soon after midday. He added: "I saw the pitch and is was no worse than ours was at 3pm when we played Villa."

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