SWINDON Town say the reason they declined Bristol Rovers' suggestion to play the pairs' postponed game the following day was down to a lack of training facilities at which they could adequately prepare.

After referee Leigh Doughty's decision to postpone the west-country derby at the Memorial Stadium due a frozen pitch, club officials discussed the possibility of playing the game the next day - as a handful of other EFL clubs have done this weekend.

However, Town say they refused this option as they felt the short turnaround would put them at a disadvantage with no available training facility open to the squad.

Bristol Rovers CEO, Martyn Starnes was left disappointed by Swindon's decision after receiving a message from the Wiltshire side stating "they couldn't get to Bristol" on Sunday.

In a short statement by the club, Town said: “We had arrived at our pre-match meeting fully expecting to play the game at 3pm.

"We were informed that the referee had deemed the pitch unplayable and that it would be postponed.

"It was suggested there was a possibility to play the game tomorrow, which we declined as there would be no facility to train at between now and the re-arranged kick-off, therefore the team would not have had sufficient preparation for the fixture tomorrow.”

A new date for the fixture will be announced in due course.