Crawley Town have ruled out the prospect of playing games at an alternative ground to ease their fixture backlog.

Reds have played just two league games since December 29 and must squeeze in 21 League One fixtures in the next 11 weeks.

John Gregory’s side already face the prospect of playing on the next eight Tuesday’s and their problems could mount if Saturday’s home clash with Carlisle United becomes another victim of the weather.

Chief executive Michael Dunford is hopeful that will not be the case but says the picture will be a lot clearer after the groundstaff have worked on the pitch today.

Dunford said: “We were able to take the covers off yesterday and do some remedial work on the pitch. The groundstaff will be continuing their efforts today before we put the covers back on ahead of the forecasted rain this evening.

“Eighty per cent of the pitch is fine but it is just the area in front of the dugouts and just outside the penalty box at the visiting supporters’ end which are a problem. If we can get them into a reasonable condition then I think we have a reasonable chance of getting the game on.

“Obviously it would cause problems if another game was off but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We’re not looking at alternative venues because I don’t think the Football League would allow us to do that. If it came to it we might have to play Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday but it is too early to think about that yet.”