THE decision to postpone Oxford United’s game against Fleetwood Town on Saturday may help the club in the long run, according to manager Chris Wilder.

Prolonged heavy rain left the playing surface at the Kassam Stadium waterlogged and referee Ollie Langford had no hesitation in calling the game off after an 11.30am inspection.

With a lengthy list of players either out injured or not fully fit, Wilder is optimistic of having a stronger squad to select from when the fixture is rearranged in the new year.

He said: “When you have a fully fit squad everybody is buzzing and you want to play game after game.

“But when you’re in a situation like ours, where there are players not at 100 per cent and others we can’t select from, then I suppose (a postponement) is favourable, because you’d like to think that when the game does get rearranged you’d be stronger.

“But it was a decision made by the referee and with the weather that came down there was no option for him.”

It also helped that most of the other games in npower League Two were also rained off.

Wilder said: “You’d prefer not to be behind and for everybody to be in the same situation. “I think everyone who wasn’t playing on Saturday was sitting there and hoping the games which were on finished as draws.

“When it’s a situation like that you don’t want just your game to be called off and probably 90 per cent of the teams have to rearrange a game in the New Year.”