IT’S mid-January. It’s already been snowing and the clouds are looking suspiciously laden as I look out of the window. It’s one degree Celsius outside. It appears that winter might finally be arriving. Great!

With Saturday’s trip to Frickley Athletic providing our fortnightly fix of Darlo action, I can’t help but think that more regular games are still some time away. I’d like to think that the four games scheduled for January are played but, to be honest, I just don’t see it at the moment.

It’s been a brutal couple of months in terms of the weather. We’re not the only team to suffer. The likes of Skelmersdale and Ramsbottom have seen their grounds under feet of water. Meanwhile, there have been match days where nearly the whole league schedule has been wiped out. We’re certainly not an isolated case.

And yet while there is light at the end of the tunnel for most of those clubs that have been affected, it doesn’t feel like that for us. For a start, it’s still wet. Whether it rains or snows, precipitation is the mortal enemy of the Heritage Park pitch. Sadly for a new(ish) venue, it sometimes feels like a heavy dew would be a challenge for its drainage.

I am sure Dave Mills and John Tempest are working overtime to make sure that the funds are in place to keep the club ticking over from week to week in the absence of regular revenue. However, the real tangible effect on the club can be seen on the league table. Ashton United and Workington have caught up and subsequently overtaken us to occupy the playoff positions. Other teams have bunched up behind us. Of course, we have plenty of games in hand to rectify the situation, but with the prospect of having to play two or even three games per week for pretty much all the way to the end of the season, logistically, things are starting to stack up against us.

With two home games coming up in the next ten days, I really hope that some contingencies are in place should they not go ahead. As brutal as it sounds, one of those contingencies needs to be an alternative venue for some of our home games. Whether that be the vacant New Ferens Park in Durham with its synthetic surface or elsewhere, we need to start playing some home games, both for the club’s finances and in order to remain competitive in the division. We only have to look at the nearby example of Gateshead playing a number of games away from home in not too dissimilar circumstances in 2013 to see this is possible.

Before such drastic decisions are made, we have to hope that the game at Frickley Athletic goes ahead. With Darlo sporting a 100 per cent winning record in December, let’s hope that we perform to the same levels as seen at Hyde and Blyth.

With the exception of Nantwich, all of the other teams above us in the league table occupy the top four positions in the current form table. That’s dangerous for us as any dropped points from games where we should be winning will be costly. No pressure.