Chatham manager Kevin Watson believes 3G pitches could be the way forward.

Watson spent much of Wednesday afternoon on the phone, contacting his players, to tell them yet another game had been called off. Chats were due to travel to Grays for their Robert Dyas League Cup quarter-final tie.

But just like Saturday’s match at Witham Town, the match fell victim to a waterlogged pitch. Watson said: “We try and run the club as professionally as we can and the last thing we want to do is mess people about. Football should be part of people’s lives, not a burden.

“I’ve got players who take time off work to play football and maybe we need to now look at 3G pitches.

“I am not sure how people are going to afford them but maybe the FA should look into it. There just aren’t enough of them around and maybe clubs can start sharing. It’s certainly something to look at.”

At present, however, clubs at Conference level remain sceptical of introducing 3G surfaces. Conference clubs recently rejected Maidstone’s appeal for a rule change, which currently prevents teams with 3G surfaces at that level.

“I’ve played on Maidstone’s pitch and it’s all right,” said Watson. “They use 3G at a high level in other countries and the game is evolving.”

Chatham are due to host high-flying Dereham on Saturday at Maidstone Road. Dereham are sixth in Ryman League, Division 1 North and beat Chats 3-0 in the reverse fixture.