Rangers hoping to beat the weather

Stafford Rangers were today keeping their "fingers crossed" that Saturday's postponement of their league fixture at Buxton is not a sign of things to come.

Rangers were ruled out of action at the weekend after their hosts called off the match, due to frost and snow on the pitch at the Silverlands.

Bad weather decimated December fixtures up and down the country last year and Rangers were among the worst hit, playing just once that month.

The postponement of their local derby at home to Telford on a Bank Holiday, for the second year in a row, hit them hard in the pocket.

After relegation from the Blue Square North last season, Rangers' big Bank Holiday derby is the visit of Hednesford to Marston Road on January 2.

And chairman Mike Hughes is hoping the club don't miss out on a prospective 1,500-plus gate by the game being rescheduled.

He said: "At the moment, it's a bit of a concern that we don't lose fixtures to the weather, as that could put some pressure on us.

"What we are mainly concerned about is the Bank Holiday fixture, as we have lost them in the last two seasons.

"We wouldn't want to lose that for a third year in a row and we have got Hednesford at home which is a big game for us, financially.

"The main thing is not losing Saturday games and, certainly, the Bank Holiday game. When you play these games in a midweek, you never get the same sort of crowd.

"We would be expecting a crowd of 1,500 minimum for the Hednesford game, hopefully we will get a good gate."

Hughes is hoping that the current weather trends, which are an improvement on last year, will hold them in good stead.

He said: "Fingers crossed, the weather over the festive period will be a little bit milder for us but we'd had nearly a month of snow this time last year, it started in November.

"We are already well ahead, we have played 21 league games this year and we hadn't played anywhere near that many last year."