Peter Taylor today outlined the frustration facing weather-hit League Two clubs but insisted: A winter break is not the answer.

The Boxing Day tussle with leaders Chesterfield at Valley Parade was called off yesterday because of a frozen pitch.

It was City’s third postponement during the prolonged cold snap and they have played only once in December.

The whole bottom division was whited out last weekend and there are doubts whether many games on Sunday will survive.

But Taylor will still resist any calls for a scheduled interlude at the halfway point of the season.

He said: “It’s so difficult in this country to have a winter break. You could have a break to rest your legs, bodies and minds and then all of a sudden there’s a cold snap when you’re not expecting it.

“Suddenly you can’t play again. It could well defeat the object.

“Maybe the Premier League boys are the ones that might need that if they are playing Champions League and international matches. I can understand that but at our level we don’t need it.”

Taylor had already given the players tomorrow off for Christmas and will need to rework his training routine ahead of Tuesday’s planned trip to Cheltenham.

He added: “It is testing us and the lads have had a couple of days off. But they’ve worked extremely hard when they have come in.

“The only thing is that everyone at our level is in the same boat. We can’t train properly but it’s no different for Chesterfield or Chelten-ham.

“Down south, it’s even colder than Bradford at the minute.”

Bradford-based former league referee Graeme Atkins checked the Valley Parade pitch yesterday lunchtime. He pulled back a square of the covers around the edge of the penalty area and found the surface underneath was rock hard.

A club spokesman said: “We were just fighting a losing battle. The covers have been on all this week but the temperatures have been so severely low.”

Club captain Lee Bullock admitted the latest postponement was a big blow, not just for the fans and players but also local businesses relying on football trade.

Bullock said: “Boxing Day is always a great money-spinner, not just for the club but also the local community.

“You don’t realise, until you get close to the club, the knock-on effects it has when the game is postponed.

“The club miss out on gate receipts but it’s also the businesses around the ground who suffer.

“As players, you take it for granted a bit coming in to train and then driving home.

“But you’ve got to think about the money generated around the game and the shops and cafes that will be losing out.”

Cheltenham are “quietly optimistic” that Tuesday’s game will have a chance of going ahead.

Whaddon Road is currently covered in snow, which is helping to insulate the ground.

But the local temperature is forecast to plunge as low as minus ten for the next two nights, leaving the fixture in doubt.