Adam out for trip to Stadium of Light

27 December 2010 12:20
After a narrow 1-0 victory at the Britannia Stadium on 11th December and the Seasiders home fixtures wiped out Blackpool head up to the North-east for their first outing at the Stadium of Light. Blackpool's Boxing Day postponement at home to Liverpool means captain Charlie Adam will now have to sit out the trip to Sunderland.Adam picked up his fifth booking of the season on December 11 at Stoke and has twice been denied the chance to serve his one-match suspension as first Tottenham on December 18 was called off and then the visit of the Reds.Matt Gilks, Chris Basham, Billy Clarke (all knee), Marlon Harewood (hamstring) and Louis Almond (shoulder) remain sidelined.Blackpool's club secretary Matt Williams has said they intend to install under soil heating after three home postponements in a month.The Tangerines had been set to welcome Liverpool to Bloomfield Road on Boxing Day only for freezing temperatures to take their toll again as the playing surface was deemed unplayable. Though the Bloomfield Road pitch does not have the traditional undersoil heating used by most of the top-flight clubs, they do have an alternative system that meets Premier League requirements and which they had hoped would ensure the game would go ahead. But it is understood this could not be powered because of the frozen fuel and the game went the way of recent postponements against Manchester United and Tottenham.The League would perhaps be within their rights to ask Blackpool why their system does not seem to be working but with all three games now rescheduled without too much inconvenience it was decided not to pursue the matter.Also, the Premier League rules ask clubs to have a system in place that can deal with temperatures as low as -6 degrees. It has been colder than that in Blackpool recently. The Liverpool game will be played on January 12, while Ian Holloway's side will face United on January 25 and Tottenham will come to Bloomfield Road on February 22.With Blackpool having played four of their first five games of the Premier League season away after struggling to get their ground ready for the start, the manager and his players now have an unprecedented number of home games in the second half of the campaign. In fact, 12 of their last 20 matches will be at home.While the recent cold snap has seen games postponed up and down the country Blackpool have been hardest hit in the Premier League, with games against Manchester United and Tottenham being called off before Sunday's postponed clash with Liverpool.While the Premier League say you don't have to have undersoil heating Blackpool say they plan to install it in the summer to avoid a situation like this next winter.Blackpool's club secretary Matt Williams has said they intend to install under soil heating after three home postponements in a month.Williams said: "It is our intention that we will install undersoil heating at the end of the season. It is not a Premier League regulation and after winning promotion, we concentrated our efforts on making sure our ground met the criteria set down by the Premier League in terms of media facilities and medical facilities. That took priority, but it is our intention to install undersoil heating regardless of which league we are in next season. "The ground staff did everything possible to get the game on. They worked around the clock for the last 72 hours, but when you get the temperatures we've had of -12C on Christmas Eve, -9C on Christmas night and -7C at 8am on the morning of the match, then you're up against it."

Source: FOOTYMAD