Ramsbottom United are without a fixture this weekend in Vodkat League Division One.

But the Rams are concerned for the welfare of their Riverside pitch, which is in a poor condition.

Manager Neil Hart approached the referee at half-time in their game against Squires Gate on Saturday with conditions worsening, but the official insisted that the game should continue.

Hart said: "We have gone from having one of the best playing surfaces in the league to now having the worst. It is ruined.

"As far as I am concerned the game should never have been played.

"It was fit for play before the match, but so much rain fell during the warm-up that it quickly became unfit.

"I approached the referee at half-time and asked him to call the game off, because I thought somebody was going to get hurt, but he didn't want to know, unfortunately.

"When referees make these decisions they've got to take these things into account and when you've got a football club like ours that works as hard as it does and all the groundsman's work goes up in smoke in 90 minutes, it's hard to take."