ORIENT S hopes of climbing out of the bottom four of League One have literally been put on ice. Saturday s fixture at fellow strugglers Oldham has already been called off, which means Orient will not have a chance to escape the drop zone at the weekend.

ORIENT'S hopes of climbing out of the bottom four of League One have literally been put on ice.

Saturday's fixture at fellow strugglers Oldham has already been called off, which means Orient will not have a chance to escape the drop zone at the weekend.

With the Boundary Park pitch frozen and under almost a foot of snow, the decision to postpone Saturday's fixture was taken as early as Thursday morning, as there appeared no prospect of the weather improving before the weekend.

It means the O's have a home game with Yeovil and an away trip to Oldham to reschedule and they are not in action until Saturday, January 16, when Bristol Rovers are the visitors to Brisbane Road.

By the time they play the Pirates, Orient will have had almost a three-week break from action. They have yet to play in 2010 and their last competitive fixture was the derby duel with Southend United on Monday, December 28, when the visitors came from behind to take the points in a 2-1 win.