WANDERERS boss Gareth Ainsworth said he wanted to play this afternoon’s fixture against Fleetwood Town and was philosophical about the late postponement.

The match was only officially called off twenty minutes before the scheduled 3pm kick off time despite the Adams Park pitch suffering badly from an unexpected overnight frost.

Referee Andy Davies was prepared to allow as much time as possible to allow the pitch to thaw out, carrying out inspections at 1.30pm and 2pm and instructing the players to warm up in case the match was able to be played.

But it became obvious the match wouldn’t go ahead as both sets of players warmed up gingerly on the surface, with the noise of their boots sounding like the clattering of horses hooves in the stable yard.

Davies made the belated decision to postpone the game, to the annoyance of supporters.

Ainsworth said: “The lads were ready to play but unfortunately there’s a last minute call-off and we have to live with that.

“He didn’t call it off officially until the time he did. There was a chance it could have been on. The late call-off is the one the referee wants and we have to stand by that.

“The referee’s deemed the goalkeeping areas and one or two little patches. It was difficult to tell him to stop. We go by the referee’s decision. Fair enough this happens – I think the frost has caught everyone out.

“I always want to play. You don’t want fixture congestion but it can’t be helped if the frost’s caught everyone out. It caught me out – I didn’t think it was going to be frosty when I woke up this morning.”

The Blues boss added: “I think Fleetwood and their fans have had the bigger upheaval. I feel for our fans as well – they are good fans and they were looking forward to a game today, as we were.

“We’ll prepare right for Exeter on New Year’s Day and we’ll go again.”