Notts County issue strong statement after Dover Athletic postponement storm

Notts County say they "vehemently reject" suggestions they wanted Tuesday night's game against Dover Athletic postponed.

The clash at the Crabble was called off five hours before kick-off despite passing an initial inspection from an official at 12.30pm.

Many Notts fans had already left to travel to the game but learned at 2.30pm that the match referee had decided to postpone the game in lieu of the weather forecast that predicted rain.

Dover's chairman Jim Parmenter claimed that the National League had called the game off and said he would be lodging a complaint.

He also claimed that "it could be only due to undue pressure on the authorities by Notts County".

It is the second time the game has been postponed after the original game on January 8 was also called off just two hours before it was due to start.

And in a lengthy statement released tonight, Notts explained the full chain of events and questioned the lack of communication from Dover Athletic.

"It is hugely disappointing and frustrating to once again be addressing issues regarding a postponed trip to Dover, not least due to the inconvenience and cost to supporters – many of whom had set off on the understanding that the Crabble Athletic Ground pitch was ‘perfectly playable’," the statement read.

"On Monday, Dover’s club secretary contacted our chief executive Jason Turner to advise that their view was that the pitch was in satisfactory condition but, due to the events leading to the late postponement of the initial fixture on 8 January, they had arranged for a referee from the Kent FA to conduct a provisional pitch inspection at 11am today (Tuesday).

"We were told that the match referee was unavailable at this time, but that his FA colleague would liaise with