Both Carling Cup semi-finals postponed

Soccer: Tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final first leg between Blackburn and Aston Villa at Ewood Park and tomorrow’s Manchester…

Soccer:Tonight's Carling Cup semi-final first leg between Blackburn and Aston Villa at Ewood Park and tomorrow's Manchester derby at Eastlands have both been postponed due to heavy snow in the north west of England.

While the Ewood Park pitch was playable, roads in and around Blackburn have been deemed unsafe for fans travelling to and from the stadium.

Blackburn have confirmed that tickets for the match will be valid for the rearranged fixture, while fans who are unable to attend the new date can obtain a refund.

Just hours after tonight’s game was postponed, so too was the game between Manchester City and Manchester United. The game was set to be played at Eastlands but will now take place on January 19th.

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Both sides will be disappointed with the news with United especially looking to put their shock defeat to Leeds in the FA Cup on Sunday firmly behind them with a positive performance against their near neighbours.

The second-leg, due to take place on the 19th, has now been moved back a week and will be played on January 27th.

Tonight’s game at Ewood Park was postponed largely due to safety reasons. "The decision was taken in conjunction with the police match commander on the grounds of public safety and following consultation with the Football League," read a statement on Rovers' official website.

"Since first thing on Tuesday morning we have been in constant contact with both the Met Office and police and have been monitoring both the weather and road network conditions in our area.

"Some roads around Ewood Park are currently inaccessible and even the motorways have only been passable with extreme care, with many travellers having already experienced lengthy delays and disruption.

"It is still snowing heavily in Blackburn, as it has been all morning, and advice locally is not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary and in addition severe weather warnings have being issued throughout the country.

"The weather forecast for the day states that we can expect more snow and freezing temperatures in Lancashire and that heavy snow is expected in the Midlands later in the day and will continue throughout the evening and early hours of Wednesday morning.

"Whilst the Ewood Park pitch is playable we believe it would be unadvisable to expect fans, staff etc to attempt to get to the match.

"Even if fans are able to get to Ewood Park we would not like to speculate on what type of journey home they may face at 10pm tonight when temperatures will be sub-zero."