Wednesday 23 December 2015 15:16, UK
Accrington boss John Coleman has stood by his criticism of Carlisle being able to play their 'home' games at a neutral venue following the flooding of their ground but has apologised for any offence his comments caused.
Carlisle's Brunton Park was left under water during the recent flooding in Cumbria, which damaged many residential homes and businesses earlier in December.
The Cumbrians' first 'home' game since the flooding was played 85 miles away at Preston's Deepdale - a 3-0 victory against Notts County - and they are scheduled to face Plymouth at Blackburn's Ewood Park on January 2 and then meet Yeovil in the FA Cup at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool eight days later.
Coleman said on Tuesday he was "upset about how the [Football] League's handled the Carlisle affair", citing the fact his Accrington side were being forced to make up their postponed games at a later date and that not all teams would have to face the trek up to Cumbria this season.
The Football League responded saying there were "clearly exceptional circumstances" between Accrington's waterlogged pitch and Carlisle's ground and surrounding areas being flooded, and that they "wouldn't agree that a club gains an advantage in the competition by playing its home matches at a neutral ground".
Coleman clarified his comments in an open letter on his club's website on Wednesday.
It read: "Firstly can I start by apologising if I have caused any offence with my comments where I criticised the Football League over the handling of Carlisle United's potential fixture crisis.
"The quotes published were just a small snippet of a longer interview. In that interview, my sympathy for the people who have suffered massively from the floods was made abundantly clear.
"My main point over this whole affair is that it is now pot luck over whether a team plays Carlisle as an away fixture or on a neutral ground - how can this be fair?
"I am not suggesting for one minute that this is favouring Carlisle in the actual game - it clearly favours the opposition, which makes the victory over Notts County even more creditable.
"I appreciate Nottingham Forest were at home on Saturday but surely moving that game to Sunday and reversing the final day fixture would have been a more viable option, I am not aware of the logistics of this but I would have hoped that option was explored."
Coleman said he was not suggesting Carlisle were the team who would benefit from the situation.
He added: "The main benefactors from this whole situation are the possible handful of teams that will not have to face Carlisle United on their home pitch.
"Carlisle have only gained an advantage in the fact that they haven't begun to build up a fixture backlog, unlike ourselves who are already two games behind."
In response to Coleman's latest comments, a Football League spokesman said: "In considering whether to permit Carlisle United to move some of the club's matches because of the devastating flooding in Cumbria, the League considered whether there was the opportunity for fixtures to be reversed with matches scheduled during the second half of the season.
"In any event, only one of the fixtures Carlisle were seeking to move - last weekend's match with Notts County - was capable of being reversed as the others were the second encounter of the season between the clubs in question.
"With regard to the Notts County match, this would have been reversed with the match between the two sides on the final day of the season which in itself raises a number of integrity issues. The most notable being that it would have meant that three of Carlisle's last four fixtures would have been at home and four of Notts County's last five matches would have been away.
"In the League's view this was actually more detrimental to the integrity of the competition than allowing Carlisle to play their home matches on neutral grounds."
