Ross County manager Malky Mackay felt for the Staggies supporters who travelled to their postponed fixture against St Johnstone in Perth.
The match was called off at 2pm on Saturday, after the McDiarmid Park surface was deemed waterlogged by referee Steven McLean.
❌ Game OFF
🏆 cinch Premiership
⚽️ @StJohnstone v @RossCounty
▪️P-P waterlogged pitch
— spflnews (@spflnews) December 4, 2021
After the surface initially failed a 1.30pm inspection, McLean reassessed the situation after another 30 minutes but to no avail.
Mackay had no issues with McLean’s handling of the situation, with a small area near one of the goalmouths having caused him particular concern.
The Staggies boss had sympathy for County’s supporters, who encountered wintry weather conditions on the A9 only to be left disappointed.
Mackay said: “We got the shout at 1.15pm telling us about the pitch and it was in danger, which is reasonably late.
“We are disappointed to not play the game because it was actually good conditions to play a game in.
“We discussed what the options were with the referee, he did his job properly and he did what he had to do.
“We had a conversation and he gave it an extra half hour.
“There was a point on the far side, maybe five or 10 percent of the pitch, that wasn’t playable at the moment.
“We are disappointed for our fans who had travelled here considering they had to battle snow on the A9.”
No rescheduled date has been set for the fixture, however it will not be rearranged for the coming midweek meaning County are next in action at home to Dundee next Saturday.
Mackay added: “We have not been told when it’s rescheduled for, but it won’t be Wednesday.
“I get the logistical challenges of clubs to get games on a three days’ notice, so I am not forcing that at all.”
McLean insists he gave the match every chance of going ahead, but ultimately had to make the call for the sake of players’ safety.
He said: “In these situations there is a process to go through for calling a game off.
“When we arrived there was an area of the pitch saturated in the penalty area on the far side.
“It was unplayable, there was a lot of sitting water and the ball wasn’t bouncing.
“At 1.30pm the game was off but we delayed the decision to let them do work on it, see if they could get it better.
“But when we looked at it again, the ball still wasn’t bouncing.
“It’s an important game for both teams, player safety is a major factor and that leads us to a very difficult decision.
“The pitch wasn’t suitable for a match at this level so unfortunately we had to postpone it.
“It’s very difficult for the supporters but we have to make the decision on the pitch and with player safety in mind.”
Saints boss Callum Davidson was also supportive of the call.
He added: “We have no complaints about it at all, the pitch is waterlogged in places so it’s one of them.
“They tried to give it as much time as possible because both teams wanted to get it played.
“But when you look at the conditions and think about the safety of players, it was the right decision.
“It was very heavy rain when I was driving up to the stadium, it was very difficult to see.
“The training pitches here have been very heavy all week so the water levels must be quite high.
“There has been a lot of rain and it coming down on top of the pitch when it’s wet anyway has just tipped it that way.”
