Charlton's Championship match against Cardiff City has been postponed, the London club announced on Friday morning.

Saturday's match was called off after referee Andy D'Urso carried out a pitch inspection at The Valley just before midday. He judged that there was already a significant amount of water on the surface, and with freezing temperatures forecast overnight on Friday, the pitch was expected to freeze.

"The Football League called the game off based on the information given by me," said D'Urso. "I told them that there is currently a covering of snow on three-quarters of the pitch. Where the snow has thawed, there are puddles of water.

"Due to the amount of snow and water, forking those areas would not make the water go away. The weather forecast in terms of temperatures is minus three degrees throughout the night, with temperatures only rising to one degree on Saturday.

"With the temperatures overnight and the amount of water, the pitch was likely to freeze."

The match has therefore been postponed, and will be rescheduled for a date later this season.

Source: www.cafc.co.uk