Rams season opener at Rochdale in doubt

The Crown Oil Arena pitch was covered in a blanket of snow on Tuesday night and further sub-zero temperatures have led to the Rochdale club appealing for volunteers to help clear the pitch today (Thursday).

Rochdale are determined to ensure the game goes ahead and have offered supporters who turn up to help a free ticket for the match.

A Rochdale club statement read: “The club must stress that without community and volunteer support the fixture is at serious risk of not going ahead.

“It is imperative that Sunday’s game goes ahead and we don’t have a repeat of last year where we had a lot of fixture disruption. It had a big knock-on effect for the rest of the season and took us a long time to get back on our feet.

“This is going to take a huge community effort and we thank those in advance for coming along and helping out.”

Last season’s corresponding fixture at Spotland was played on a Monday night after Rochdale FC’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur took place on the original Sunday.

The weather forecast is for temperatures to rise tomorrow and Saturday, which should also help thaw the pitch,