FINGERS CROSSED

Snow covered pitch at Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park ground.

Latics’ festive home clash in doubt

ATHLETIC’S home game against Tranmere Rovers on Boxing Day remains in serious doubt.

Around seven inches of snow sits on top of the Boundary Park playing surface and the plan is to leave it there for the time being to protect the pitch from sub-zero temperatures.

Rain showers and a thaw are forecast for Christmas Day, but with more snow having arrived overnight the chances of the Coca-Cola League One game getting the go-ahead remain slim.

Even if the on-field snow does melt away by the start of the weekend, there is then the threat of waterlogging to contend with.

And pitch condition aside, there are also serious concerns over the surrounding roads and car parks which are currently treacherous.

Should the game get the green light, Athletic boss Dave Penney will make late decisions on a defensive line-up which was missing Joe Jacobson (calf), Kelvin Lomax (groin) and Paul Black (groin) at Wycombe last week.

Of those, only Jacobson has a realistic chance of returning, while the hopes Chris Taylor (hamstring) and Pawel Abbott (hernia) remain in the balance as they have not been able to get a run-out in training this week due to the weather. Keigan Parker returns to the squad after illness.

Reuben Hazell will sit out the Tranmere game through suspension — or, if it is postponed, the away match at Hartlepool on Monday.

“The performances have been encouraging and we probably played even better at Wycombe than we did in winning against Exeter,” said Penney, who is not too worried about the prospect of playing twice in three days.