Oxford United's new signings Scott Rendell and Mark Wilson will have to wait to make their debuts for the U's after Saturday's home game with Barnet was called off.
A Football League official inspected the pitch at 3pm today and judged the surface to be unsafe despite covers being on the pitch since the start of the week. A club spokesman said the Kassam Stadium had been experiencing temperatures as low as -10 degrees celsius overnight, and it had remained near freezing during the day.
No new date has been agreed for the fixture as yet, but tickets already purchased will still be valid. Assistant manager Mickey Lewis said: "It is disappointing that the game is off but there is nothing we can do about it and the referee has made the right decision. We are looking forward to preparing for the match with Accrington now and hopefully the big freeze will be over."
Oxford United have been making use of the new 3G surface at neighbours Oxford City during the past week, and boss Chris Wilder paid tribute to the lower league club.
"We have had the use of a fantastic facility up at Oxford City that has been made available. We have a great relationship with them and we appreciate them helping us out. So we will train properly and we can get back to football. I think it has been a tough month for everybody at the club but I think that we have come out at the end of it in better shape than when we went into it."
The match with the Bees also marks the first U's match since the end of the January transfer window, and Wilder said he was pleased with the new players brought in to the club.
"We have gone out there and looked at players, and we have done our homework," he said. "I know for sure that Scott Rendell, Mark Wilson and Oli Johnson add to the group. "One of the biggest things that really impressed me and the staff was their desire to come and be a part of this. They turned other clubs down to come and join us and that speaks volumes about the profile the club has in the world of football."
Rendell will compete with James Constable, JP Pittman, Alfie Potter and Johnson for a place in the starting line up against Accrington, but there was bad news for fellow striker Tom Craddock. The forward, who hit 17 goals for the U's last season, has had an injury-plagued campaign and after back trouble has picked up a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out for a month.
