Peterborough United manager blames the EFL for Wednesday night postponement fiasco

Match referee Simon Mather had no choice, but to postpone the Southern section quarter-final against Crawley Town at the Weston Homes Stadium because of a frozen pitch.

And that came as no surprise to Posh who had predicted the pitch would become unplayable when a different EFL appointed referee conducted two pitch inspections earlier in the day.

Ferguson believes the EFL need to have more trust in their member clubs. He revealed Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey was fuming after his club’s wasted journey. Crawley had also sold around 100 tickets for the tie.

The decision to postpone the game was only announced just over an hour before kick off.

Scott Lindsey said Posh staff and Ferguson behaved brilliantly

"It was all very frustrating,” Ferguson said. “We knew on Tuesday the weather would deteriorate so we called for an pitch inspection before Crawley were due to set off at 1pm.

“At the 12.30pm inspection the referee said the pitch wasn’t fit. This information was relayed to the EFL who said it was too early to call the game off so they asked for a 2.30pm inspection.

"At 2.30pm the referee decided the pitch was playable, but we knew it would freeze again given the conditions and we told the EFL. We know our own pitch and as soon as the match referee got here he said we wouldn’t be playing.

"Crawley had decided to set off at 1pm as arranged to beat the traffic. Crawley fans had probably taken a half day off work to get here and these things are important to note when making decisions on postponements.

"I saw a Crawley player who took one look at the pitch and said there was no way we would be playing and I said I knew that and I could only apologise.

"Their manager Scott was raging and I don’t blame him. It was just a colossal mistake by the EFL and one that was very avoidable.

"I have no idea why the EFL didn’t trust us and I just hope they learn from the mistake. We had no reason to want the game to be postponed and there were two free Tuesdays to get the game played so there was rush to get it done on Wednesday.”

The clubs have opted to re-stage the tie on Tuesday, January 23, a week before the area semi-finals are due to be played.

"That suits us,” Ferguson added. “It gives the pitch a bit of a breather and anyway the forecast for next Tuesday is -3/-4 degrees.

"There was another issue for us when the game was postponed. I delayed naming the team thinking it would be called off, but I had to reveal it to the players. There were some changes and there were some players looking forward to getting 90 minutes they needed who had a bit of a let down.

"I have to treat the game on Saturday at Charlton completely differently.”

The draw for the area semi-finals of the Trophy is live on Sky Sports on Friday (6.30pm).

Third-placed Posh have a League One fixture at Charlton on Saturday.