Steve Lovell has moved his squad indoors as the weather continues to frustrate Ashford Town.

A frozen pitch wiped out the Ryman League Division 1 South home game against Croydon Athletic on Saturday, along with the rest of the programme. It was the latest in a long list of postponements for Ashford who have only played four times in the past month.

Lovell hopes the weather will relent, allowing the Boxing Day Kent derby at Folkestone (3pm) to go ahead, followed on Tuesday by the visit of Ramsgate (7.45pm).

He took his players to a gymnasium overlooking the River Medway at Rochester last week and planned to do the same on Tuesday, as the freezing temperatures continued to bite.

He said: "We are having to make do with what we can get at the moment but we had a good session and a swim. The boys had their Christmas night out at the weekend and it’s important they stick together but they just want to get back playing again."

Lovell knows both Christmas games will be tough as his side attempt to start climbing the table.

He said: "Folkestone are going well and Ramsgate is always a tough game but hopefully we have players coming back from injury."

Paul Jones (groin) could be ready for the Christmas games, while Joe Fuller (foot ligaments) is also close to a return.

Ashford face a total of 15 games in the first two months of 2010, making up for the excessive backlog of fixtures and have games in hand on their fellow strugglers Eastbourne Town – the last team they beat, in mid-October – and Whitstable.