CITY face the prospect of five home games crammed into three weeks to catch up after yet another postponement.

Yesterday’s call-off against Walsall was the third time in 37 days that Valley Parade has fallen victim to the weather.

Unlike the last occasion with MK Dons, City were not the only hosts without a game.

The clash between play-off rivals Scunthorpe and Plymouth was also postponed as well as Doncaster’s home game against Wimbledon. In the Championship, Nottingham Forest versus Barnsley was victim of the latest blast of snow.

But it leaves the Bantams facing a hectic home schedule to get the games played before the end of the season.

Walsall’s visit is now expected to be rearranged for the final midweek – City already host Portsmouth and MK Dons on the two preceding Tuesdays.

Facilities and operations manager Paula Watson said: “There are a lot of fixtures to fit in but we tried everything to get this game on.

“We hired an Air 2G2 machine on Easter Sunday which aerates the top level of the pitch without damaging it. The ground-staff worked all day on it.

“The covers were on Sunday night but they aren’t fully waterproof. It’s just so frustrating.

“There was never a chance because the water table was so high.

“When we started forking yesterday morning, it was going under. The machine had clearly helped but there was just so much moisture.”

Snow began falling during the early hours and the pitch was declared waterlogged shortly before 11am. Referee Carl Boyeson had been held up on his journey from Hull on the M62.

Watson added: “We’ve always had drainage issues and we’ve made that very public.

“But you are well and truly in the hands of the weather Gods.

“We verti-drained 10 days ago, we had the Air 2G2 machine in on Sunday – we wanted the game on and everyone’s gutted that it wasn’t.

“Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about this weather at this time of the year.”