Weather concerns Kenny Jackett ahead of Portsmouth's rescheduled Charlton trip

Kenny Jackett has concerns whether Pompey’s return to the Valley will again be thwarted by the weather.
Kenny Jackett inspects Charlton's pitch in Saturday's postponed match at the Valley. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImagesKenny Jackett inspects Charlton's pitch in Saturday's postponed match at the Valley. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Kenny Jackett inspects Charlton's pitch in Saturday's postponed match at the Valley. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

It looked a fair call by the match official, with the ball unable to bounce properly on the saturated playing surface.

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The fixture was swiftly rearranged for tomorrow night, with April 13 the next free date in the diaries of both clubs.

Yet Jackett admits the weather forecast is not encouraging.

The Blues boss told The News: ‘I have looked at the forecast and it does seem there is rain forecast in London.

‘Anyway, we’ll see. Hopefully they had a couple of days to work on the pitch and it is playable.

‘We understand why it has been arranged for this date.

‘If you are looking at free Tuesdays, the next one is April, so this was the closest.

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‘It’s one of them where we just have to wait and see how it plays out tomorrow night.’

On Saturday, Jackett walked around the Valley pitch to assess for himself whether it was playable.

And he stands by Madley’s subsequent decision.

He added: ‘Bobby Madley is a very experienced referee and was adamant the pitch wasn’t playable, so we accept his decision.

‘The pitch was tough because it was full up with rain and more was coming.

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‘If we’d have warmed up on that pitch and then come back to the dressing room and gone back out, it would have been heavy, there’s no doubt about that.

‘The problem we have is that we’ve only got a limited amount of time – and pitches are probably not going to be great for the next month or two.’

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