Leiston called off their game with St Ives Town due to a frozen pitch (more of that later). Poor old TikTok was ill indoors and there were no seats available in my favourite eatery for a spot of lunch.

There was only one thing for it, nestle down in front of the box for the 'magic' of the FA Cup. Magic! Are you kidding me? Liverpool v Accrington Stanley (they of the old milk advert fame, ask your grandparents) and Man City v Salford City. Hoping for miracles, rather than magic, I suggest.

Now, if the fixtures were reversed in the draw and Accrington and Salford were at home (see Tamworth v Spurs), I could see the romance potential. But be honest with me now, did you seriously think Accrington would win at Anfield? Or Salford at the Etihad?

Yes, the magic of the FA Cup opens like a bottle of vintage champagne every August for hundreds of non-league clubs. By the third round stage the fizz is well and truly flat.

So, back to postponed games because of pitch conditions. In the olden days, buh! (I love looking back), it would had to have been a pretty dire pitch for a game to be called off.

Now, I know in this day and age the old 'elf and safety is paramount, but honestly, are pitches really that bad that so many games fall foul to the weather?

Leiston, like many others, suffered with a frozen pitch, hard as nails the surface I’d imagine. But aren’t the pitches rock hard late July early August when pre-season resumes? Of course they are. I’ve never heard of a pre-season friendly undergoing a pitch inspection due to 'dry and hot' conditions. Oh, I'm right on my soapbox this week.

Talking of which, I went to the library on Tuesday with a bee in my bonnet.

Did you know 44 games were scheduled last weekend at the same level as Leiston (Step 3), only 13 survived and they were all, bar two, on 3G pitches.

Now here's a Carol Vorderman conundrum for you... Did you know there are 34 3G pitches at Step 3 across the country at around £1m each? That’s over a third of the 88 clubs at Step 3 having a 3G pitch and around £34 million spent to get there.

Will we ever get to the stage where there’s never a call off then? Because it looks like the only way is for everyone to have a 3G pitch. However, hang on, what if money was made available for 'top of the range' pitch covers at a quarter of the cost of a 3G pitch?

That would help approximately 136 clubs (based on £34m already spent) more or less having zero call offs. Could it work? Or is that too simple?

And finally, breaking news... Tik Tok has passed a late fitness test and it's all systems go to Bromsgrove on Saturday for the pair of us. Apparently, his new train fare app has got us a bargain price (his words, not mine).

Apparently we head to Ely from Ipswich, then Ely to Birmingham New Street, then BNS to Bromsgrove. Tik Tok wasn't sure on how many bus transfers there were ('I think at least one,' he said!). But we're leaving at 6.30am. I'm picking him up outside his uncle Cecil's at Gromford!

Yep! You're thinking the same as me! No chance of being home for MOTD.