Braintree Town chairman Lee Harding has said that some of the club’s January spending plans may have to stay on hold while they try to catch up on their backlog of home fixtures.

A waterlogged Amlin Stadium pitch saw a pre-Christmas game against Macclesfield called off and has now twice postponed lucrative Skrill Premier fixtures against local rivals Cambridge United, which, Harding said, has hit the club’s income hard.

A big crowd was expected for the New Year’s Day fixture and while a smaller attendance was anticipated for Tuesday’s rescheduled game, the latest postponement means there has still been no revenue from games coming into the club’s coffers.

And with boss Alan Devonshire looking to add to his squad during the January transfer window, the Iron chairman said spending may have to take account of the financial limitations.

He said: “Alan is keen to go into the marketplace, but that goes on hold until we are sure of the full implications of the New Year’s Day call-off.

“It would have been a good crowd and it won’t be the same playing on a Tuesday evening, so our income will be affected.

“It won’t help us, that’s for sure.

“I know Alan is talking to people all the time.

“His finger is on the pulse, which we support and he has mentioned a few names to me.

“He is still talking to people and the good thing is that the window is open all the way through January, but it’s a little up in the air at the moment.

“If it was just the Macclesfield game, it wouldn’t be a major issue, but Cambridge was set to be the highest gate of the season.

“Losing that game on New Year’s Day cost us not thousands but tens of thousands of pounds.

“We try to run a tight ship, but when you take that kind of money away it will be hard for a club of our size.

“We know we will get the games played eventually, but it is hitting our income now.

“We need to really get the Cambridge game out of the way before we can say to Alan ‘you can do A, B and C rather than just B and C or just C’.”

Braintree are set to return to Skrill Premier action when they head to Woking tomorrow.