The Brunton Park playing surface is holding up well ahead of the Boxing Day visit of Huddersfield Town despite the recent extremely cold snap ... and that in the wake of a downfall of snow that caused travel chaos across the county and the country over the weekend.

The pitch has been covered since last Friday, with an all-new lining of GeoFleece, used so successfully during the cold spells last season, also ready to be put in place ahead of another run of predicted sub-zero temperatures.

Managing director John Nixon said: "The pitch is in good condition at the moment, and it is taking a pitchfork nicely. We have enough of the duvet style GeoFleece lining to cover the whole pitch, and we will use that as necessary. That should do the trick as far as the playing surface is concerned.

"Concerns that we do have ahead of the Boxing Day game are geared more towards the health and safety considerations on the terraces, in the car parks and on the approaches to the ground. We could really do with a couple of days of milder weather so that these areas could be dealt with properly, but we are in the hands of the elements with that one. We remain confident, at this stage, that the game will go ahead as planned, but we are all watching the weather closely."