GRAHAM Alexander sympathised with referee David Rock after City’s latest postponement.

The Hertfordshire official called off yesterday’s home game with Notts County 75 minutes before kick-off with the Valley Parade pitch waterlogged.

Alexander, who organised a training session for his squad instead, agreed with the decision – but understood why the official took as long as he did before accepting the inevitable.

“The ref didn’t want to make the call if there was an outside chance of getting it on,” said the City boss.

“He did deliberate for a long time and tried his hardest to get the game on.

“It’s getting to that stage of the season. There were a couple of other games called off elsewhere, ours at Barrow last week was called off and there’s only a certain amount of weeks when we can fit them in.

“I think there’s a bit of pressure on the officials from everybody to give every fixture the opportunity to be on because the weeks are running out.

“But it got to the stage where we had to make a decision quickly because of the supporters.

“They were bringing a large number and obviously we have a large number at home games. He couldn’t hold on any longer.”

Rock had been hopeful after an initial check mid-morning yesterday but the constant rain that followed left areas of the surface covered by standing water.

Head groundsman Mick Doyle and his staff were left fighting a losing battle against the wet weather.

Alexander added: “It wasn’t in great condition when I was on it with the ref. There was just too much water for the groundsmen to get off.

“Speaking to Mick, he said it would have taken us probably an hour to clear the water off the pitch if there was no rain.

“We knew it was going to be difficult to get the game on and obviously the rain continued for the most part and we play there again on Tuesday.

“I said to the ref, ‘this is going to be our pitch for the rest of the season.’ We know we’re not going to play on a perfect base so we’re just happy to crack on.

“But it was the right call.”

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City had booked the artificial pitch at their training ground as a precaution and were able to relocate to Woodhouse Grove for a quick session.

“I’m glad we did that,” said Alexander. “We couldn’t afford to miss the day, so we had a practice match for 30 minutes on the 4g.

“There was talk of possibly delaying the kick-off. But the biggest risk then was to start a game and then have to call it off halfway through.

“That would have been an absolute nightmare.

“Our session finished at 4pm and the heavens opened around the training ground.

“We were all saying that if that had been half-time or the start of the second half it would have been ridiculous.

“It was the right call but I can understand why the ref didn’t do it early. We have to try and get these games in if we can.

“It was a difficult scenario for everyone, a bit similar to last week.

“We just have to look at the calendar and see where we can squeeze this one in now.”