YORK City manager Gary Mills is keeping everything crossed the thaw relents before the big FA Cup showdown against Premier League club Bolton Wanderers.

Mills’ Minstermen were left kicking their heels in training yet again after today’s planned Blue Square Bet Premier trip across the Pennines to Altrincham was postponed.

The Moss Lane pitch, which had a fresh covering of snow on it, was still deeply frost-bound prompting the game to be called off yesterday at noon.

Altrincham chairman Graham Rowley told The Press that once the snow covering was swept off the pitch it was still revealed to be rock-solid with frost.

He said with the temperature last night around minus one in the Cheshire region, there was no way the ground would thaw in time for today’s scheduled 3pm kick-off.

Discovering that yet another fixture was KO’d by the Arctic snap, the City boss promptly upped the tempo in yesterday’s training session on an all-weather surface.

But with little sign yet of the expected thaw arriving, the fear is that the New Year’s Day trip to Gateshead could also fall foul of the wretched winter.

That would be the fourth successive outing lost by City to the Baltic elements, which would then leave City’s expected visit of Fleetwood Town to Bootham Crescent next Monday as the lone competitive outing before the FA Cup clash at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium on Saturday, January 8.

If the Fleetwood game was to also be shelved, City would take on the Trotters cold.

Said Mills: “It’s another game gone and if things don’t change quickly it could be the case that our next game would be at Bolton, which would not be ideal.

“If that’s the case then we would just get on with it, but we’ve got Gateshead away on New Year’s Day and Fleetwood at home on Monday hopefully to come.”

Mills said it was so frustrating to be stuck fast in the current deep freeze, though having been relayed the news of the Altrincham call-off he instantly increased the degree of difficulty for training yesterday.

“We were about half-way through the session when we heard so we upped the training and we will do the same when we train again today.

“With the weather the way it is, it is difficult to be able to keep the players’ fitness levels up, but at least we have an all-weather surface (at Roko) to train on and that’s better than most other clubs can get.”

The one boost for the City leader is that he has a full-strength squad to choose from with all his players now having shaken off a variety of knocks.

Mills also revealed that there may be fresh news on a possible loan deal for City striker Michael Gash before the New Year kicks in.

“There may be some movement by the end of this week,” he said.

• City’s North Riding County FA Senior Cup quarter-final at home to Northern Counties East League club Pickering Town has been arranged for Tuesday, January 25, kick off 7.30pm.

Admission at Bootham Crescent will be £3 or £1 for concessions.