Workington Reds boss Danny Grainger gave his players the day off after the home game with Brighouse was called off on Saturday.

Normally he might have got them together for a training session following a home postponement but decided to leave it a free afternoon for them.

He said: “To be fair thy have worked very hard this week in training so I thought they could have a break. Mind you they will be working hard again on Tuesday night and Thursday because we have an interesting spell coming up.

“We have matches against teams at the bottom end of the table so I really want us to capitalise on this run of fixtures.”

In the four December games Reds take on teams in the current bottom three as well as Prescot Cables who are mid-table.

They go to second-bottom Ossett United on Saturday; host Prescot on December 14, visit bottom side Pickering a week later, and entertain third-bottom Dunstan on Boxing Day.

It’s also been encouraging for Grainger and his squad that most of the teams with games in hand on the Reds have now completed those fixtures and are still behind the Cumbrians.

Marske (beaten 5-1 on Saturday) have two games in hand and are four points behind; Tadcaster are five behind with two in hand while Pontefract and five behind with three games in hand. Reds go to Pontefract on New Year’s Day.

The concern at the moment, though, is the amount of games which might be lost if the cold snap continues.

Borough Park was inspected at 10-30am on Saturday and although the river Derwent end of the ground was playable, the problem was in the shaded town end which had not received enough sun.

Meanwhile, Grainger has been singing the praises of 18-year-old Taylor Charters who has joined Reds on loan for a month from Carlisle United.

“I was quite surprised they allowed him to come-out to us so was well pleased because he’s a young player I rate.

“The big thing about him is that he can play effectively in two or three positions,” said the Reds boss.

Grainger also confirmed that midfielder Brad Carroll will be back in the squad for the trip to Ossett on Saturday after training twice in midweek as he comes back from a niggling calf injury.