Livingston boss David Martindale admits even he was surprised their clash with Dundee United passed a 3pm pitch inspection - because he knew the park would be unplayable come kick-off.
Freezing temperatures had put the game in doubt but the Tony Macaroni Arena playing surface was deemed playable by fourth official Scott Lambie, only to be ruled unsafe 90 minutes before kick-off by referee Matthew McDermid.
Martindale said: “I was surprised at 3pm, that’s why we called the inspection. The ref doesn’t understand there’s a bit of a mini-climate here. It’s always a couple of degrees colder.
"I come in from Edinburgh and there’s always a shift. By the time you get to the stadium, there’s another one or two degrees because the stadium is in a valley and the cold air drops into it.
"When he came out at 3pm, I thought it was debatable. He’s wanted to put it on - we all wanted it on - but I knew the temperature between 3pm and 7pm was always going to drop.”
He added: “I knew by 6 or 7pm the players would go on the park and they would have concerns. I knew there was a good chance the game might not be on.
"I feel sorry for the Dundee United fans. It probably made sense to do this at 3pm but I get why he didn’t."
Despite the call-off - the second time the fixture has been postponed in the space of a month - Martindale insisted there was nothing the club could have done to get the game on.
He said: "I can only apologise but there’s not a lot we can do as a club. We’ve used covers in the past but if you put them down and it snows, the weight of the snow on the covers means you can’t get them off.
If you leave the covers off you can get to the park so we left the snow on to insulate. It’s been -6C for two or three consecutive nights and that’s the problem.
"We put close to a tonne of vacuum salt on the pitch in the south third but you’re up against it. That far south east corner gets no sunlight whatsoever and it’s always a problem."
His counterpart Liam Fox, who had a stint two seasons ago as Livingston assistant manager, echoed Martindale's concerns about the pitch when it passed the earlier inspection, commenting: "The inspection was at 3pm because we had serious concerns and I was here personally. I still had those very strong concerns at 3pm.
"That adds to the frustration because if you just looked at the temperature forecast, it was only going to go one way. However, the fourth official deemed the pitch playable.
"I’m not a weatherman, I’m not an expert on this stuff — but I’m hugely disappointed we have got to this point just an hour-and-a-bit before kick-off. We turn up tonight — looking forward to the game, we’ve done our preparation — and very, very quickly it’s blatantly obvious that the pitch wasn’t playable.”
He added: "With the temperature forecasts what they were, I couldn’t imagine the pitch getting any better. That’s on the SPFL and the referees; they make the calls and hopefully they look into this.
"We are frustrated and disappointed, especially for those supporters who probably left Dundee early and are getting this news.
"People have made plans, been on buses, spent their money, maybe left work early to get to the game. I really feel for them. They have been magnificent, home and away and I’m gutted for them.”
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