FA Cup: Charlton Athletic v Oxford United tie postponed

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The ValleyImage source, Getty Images

Wednesday's FA Cup third-round tie between Charlton Athletic and Oxford United has been postponed because of a waterlogged pitch at The Valley.

The match has been rearranged for Tuesday, 14 January.

The two sides were due to meet on Saturday but the game was called off on Friday after the pitch failed an inspection by a local referee.

The winners of the tie will travel to Championship side Huddersfield Town in the fourth round.

That game will take place on the weekend of 25-26 January.

Charlton have installed a dome over the surface at The Valley in an attempt to dry out the pitch.

The south-east London club have problems with the drainage system at the ground, which cannot be resolved until the summer.

"We're in this predicament because the pitch hasn't had any sufficient drainage work done on it for the past 16 or 17 years," deputy head groundsman Nathan Chapman told the club website., external

"The drainage system is collapsed at one end which prevents any water from going through and as a result it just holds on the surface.

"The only way to permanently solve the problem is to wait until the summer when we will put into action plans of a new drainage system which will then be sufficient enough.

"The reason we can't do it now is because we need to dig the whole pitch up and pretty much start again."

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