Finding a suitable date to stage their postponed Challenge Cup tie with Oxford might take Whitehaven a little time.

Talks will start in earnest today between the two clubs who saw Sunday’s scheduled game called off 24 hours earlier.

Chairman Tommy Todd said: “The problem is there are no free weekend dates. Although we are out of the League One Cup, Oxford are still in the competition.

“It means the game will have to be played in midweek, which won’t be easy given the travelling involved for Oxford.

“One of their officials offered to stage the game if we were struggling with our pitch. I am sure it was tongue in cheek but I told them if I agreed to that my fellow directors would string me up!”

Oxford had been planning to leave at 4am on Sunday but Whitehaven were always keeping an eye on the weather and organised an inspection at lunchtime on Saturday.

Top referee Gareth Hewer, who lives locally, was asked by the match commissioner Peter Gilmore to take a look and he soon decided it was in no state to stage a game, especially with more rain forecast.

“It was pretty bad down at the railway end of the ground and a lot of our problems come from the beck behind the stand," said Todd.

"It needs dredging because, when there’s a lot of rain, the levels rise and we know it’s going to affect our pitch."