Wigan boss Roberto Martinez 'devastated' as match against Aston Villa is called off

09 January 2010 09:01
Wigan's Barclays Premier League home match against Aston Villa, scheduled forthis afternoon, has been postponed due to a frozen pitch at the DW Stadium.[LNB]Cold comfort: Roberto Martinez praised the efforts of groundstaff for trying to get Wigan's match played [LNB]Wigan's undersoil heating system failed yesterday and engineers have been unable to repair it.[LNB]Referee Stuart Atwell inspected the pitch at 8.30am and decided the heavy overnight frost had left the surface unplayable. [LNB]Wigan manager Roberto Martinez said: 'We are devastated because the club has worked so hard in these freak weather conditions to make the area surroundingthe stadium safe.[LNB]'The pitch has never been the problem, until now. I have to congratulate our safety team at the stadium who have worked tirelessly to try and clear the area of ice and snow over the past few days. [LNB]'Our ground staff  have also spent several nights at the stadium making the sure thepitch remained playable.'[LNB][LNB][LNB][LNB]  

Source: Daily_Mail