Tuesday, March 7, is the new date for Pompey's visit to Crawley - which was announced as differing views were offered on the rights and wrongs of the postponement.
The game will come between a home game against Crewe and a visit to Colchester and Paul Cook will doubtless be happy that the new date is not being left too late in the season.
Pompey chief executive Mark Catlin told The News Saturday's pitch inspection could have been held later but they had to go along with the decision.
He sad: '‘In the scheme of games being called off, there is very rarely a right and a wrong way. I fully take on board it would have been nice to have waited until 12 noon.
‘However, if Crawley were confident the game wasn’t going to take place then you always want the club to make the call as early as they can to give supporters the best chance to make alternative arrangements.
‘I was slightly surprised to hear there was a pitch inspection so early because the weather can change during a day and there is still six hours to kick off from when the decision was made. Yet you have to trust the local groundstaff and the referee will make the right choice.
‘Everyone I spoke to at Crawley were desperate to get the game on, but they looked at what happened the previous day when temperatures were similar. On that occasion, areas of the pitch didn’t thaw out during the day, so they used that as a guideline for Saturday’s decision. Fans always want to be advised as early as possible, so you have to go with Crawley’s decision.’
Meanwhile Crawley fanGeoff Thornton told the West Sussex Gazette he felt the postponement was a sign of mollycoddled players.
He told the paper: 'Nowadays the surface at Broadfield is as good as any in League Two (and higher) and would have been pristine when the covers were unrolled on Thursday evening.
'Of course it was a cold night but with frost covers and expensive warm air heating what on earth was the problem? With no disrespect intended to the squads at Broadfield and Fratton Park, I have to say that players nowadays are mollycoddled.
'I wasn’t there but I can’t believe the players of the 1950s would have done anything but laugh when this match was called off as they would have coped with the icy lumps left when the frost settled on pitches already churned into mud when it had been wet.
'So what consideration was given to the fans of both clubs for this sell-out fixture? That’s a rhetorical question as we know the answer is none.'
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