MANSFIELD Town are waiting anxiously on the weather ahead of their massive FA Cup third round home tie with Liverpool on Sunday (4pm).
The One Call Stadium pitch was waterlogged and in a dreadful state last weekend when the visit of Grimsby Town was postponed after a morning inspection.
And, with the forecasters suggesting more rain will fall this week, there are fears the Liverpool game could be postponed or take place on a poor surface.
So the ground staff now face a race against time and the elements to try to provide a surface suitable for Stags to take on some of the best players in the world in one of the biggest games in the club's history.
"The pitch did take a lot of stick against Alfreton on Boxing Day and it is hard for it to recover with all the rain," said manager Paul Cox.
"The assessor in the stand said to me he was surprised the game actually finished as the ball wasn't moving in some places.
"Players like Louis Briscoe and Lindon Meikle just couldn't run with it."
