MATT Derbyshire groaned as he passed through the back of the Valley Parade press box.

“Am I ever going to get to play for this club?” he asked Harry Lewis with a half-smile as he headed for the dressing room.

Saturday afternoon was not entirely wasted - Mark Hughes put his squad through an impromptu 90-minute training session in the half of the pitch that was suitable to play on.

But the adrenaline was not pumping in the same way for the City players that it should have been in front of 16,000 fans for the hotly-anticipated showdown with promotion rivals Carlisle.

Another blank weekend to add to a growing list - with another to come next Saturday when intended opponents Walsall instead do FA Cup battle with Premier League Leicester.

By the time Mansfield visit Valley Parade on February 4, providing the weather behaves itself by then, City will have played on only two Saturday afternoons since November 19.

And both of them were in London at Leyton Orient at the beginning of December and Wimbledon last week. It’s been an unwanted winter break for the club’s 14,000 season-ticket holders.

“I understand the frustrations of the fans as well but, believe me, we are just as frustrated,” said City keeper Lewis, “We just want to play.

“It’s never ideal. You prepare all week for it and then I was driving in Saturday morning when I got the call that the game was off.

“As I’ve always said, Saturday is the best day of the week, you build up towards it and then it gets taken away from you at the last minute.

“We were well aware that it was a big game and that’s been put off another week and the situation might look differently. It’s very disappointing.”

City were in good company across the division. Of the 12 schedule fixtures, only three survived at Colchester, Hartlepool and Stevenage.

Matty Foulds’ planned loan debut for Harrogate at Grimsby was called off just 90 minutes before kick-off.

Valley Parade referee Will Finnie called time on City’s game at midday with freezing fog enveloping the stadium.

Ironically, the sun had broken through within half an hour of the postponement being announced.

Pictures on social media showing Valley Parade in bright sunshine just added to the general angst at another unwanted empty Saturday on the calendar.

But the troublesome area of the pitch towards the south end of the ground in front of the TL Dallas Stand remained in the shade and was deemed too hard to risk playing on - a view shared by club staff who had been involved.

Finnie had checked on the surface on Friday afternoon and was happy to proceed.

But the plunging temperature overnight proved to be the downfall despite the best efforts of Mick Doyle and his ground staff.

Lewis added: “We were stood there afterwards in glorious sunshine and it was lovely weather for a game of football - a nice, brisk January afternoon.

“But I suppose they’ve got to make a decision earlier rather than later for the away fans.

“Safety comes into it, although I’d play on a car park rather than calling it off given the chance!

“It does feel like a punch in the gut. The lads, the staff and I’m sure the fans as well were excited.

“I think the build-up in the week had been good. It’s not easy with frozen pitches and we’d been training on Astroturf.

“But we’d made it work. We’d got the team the day before and everybody was ready and knew their roles.

“You feel kind of let-down. But it’s not a decision that’s in our hands.

“We’re obviously disappointed but it’s one that you’ve just got to deal with.

“There’s another game on Tuesday, which is a great thing, but we’re a bit gutted about this one.”

After Stockport, there is currently a three-week gap before City’s next midweek date at home to Tranmere. That kicks off a run of three in four that takes in the rearranged visits to Gillingham and Walsall.

Carlisle host a Cumbrian derby with Barrow on transfer deadline day, so the earliest the game could potentially be rearranged would be February 7.

Lewis said: “There are a lot of Tuesdays as it is and with all these postponements we’ve got to go to Gillingham on a midweek, Stockport obviously coming up this Tuesday and Walsall as well and now this.

“The schedule’s going to get very busy and that’s when you can put yourself at the risk of injury when there’s a backlog of games like that.

“That’s something that has got to be managed but that’s part and parcel. You’re going to have to be ready to play games back-to-back-to-back.”