BARNSLEY chief executive Ben Mansford has praised City for their quick action in sorting out fans after last night's postponement.

Vouchers were dished out on the turnstiles as supporters left Valley Parade after referee Trevor Kettle pulled the plug on the Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie.

Mansford said: "Credit to Bradford for getting the vouchers to the fans so all those who paid can get in for the rearranged fixture.

"Anyone who attended will know the game couldn't go ahead. Often the criticism in a situation like this is that a decision is not taken earlier.

"We had that at Charlton a couple of years ago in the Championship. Clearly, the pitch wasn't playable there on the Thursday, never mind the Saturday.

"They didn't allow a local referee to assess the pitch and when Barnsley fans paid all that money to get to London, that wasn't acceptable.

"We had over 300 at Bradford and I am sure they understood.

"When our fans left Barnsley, things will have been okay. But by the time it was 7.30pm, the pitch wasn't playable."

Puddles formed on the pitch as water cascaded from the roof of the main stand while the players were being put through their paces.

Kettle ruled there was no chance of going ahead when he tried to bounce the ball and it just landed flat on the drenched surface.

City chief operating officer James Mason said: "I don't think anyone anticipated the rain to come down as quickly and as heavily as it did.

"If it was a heavy shower, football could have been played, but that was torrential and looked like it was going to continue for the rest of the night.

"As soon as you saw the ref's body language when he came out just before quarter to eight, you knew that game was off.

"We put the announcement out very quickly that the game would be delayed initially. But then he must have spoken to both managers and said for the safety of the players it couldn't take place.

"We do have some infrastructure problems around the stadium anyway. We had to think about getting out of here on a dark, wet evening, so I think it was the right decision."