EXETER say they will wait on the outcome of a Boundary Park pitch inspection before making the trip north on Friday.

The Grecians are doing all they can to avoid another wasted journey after making a 650-mile round trip to Barrow on Tuesday night only to see the game postponed less than an hour before kick-off at Holker Street.

As a result boss Matt Taylor is hoping an early call can be made if Latics’ surface is unplayable due to the current cold snap, temperatures set to dip a few degrees below freezing.

Taylor does however of course want the game to be played if at all possible amid mounting concerns about the number of games sides still have to play in the closing weeks and months of the season.

"There will be a pitch inspection tomorrow, so we will delay our departure around that," he told the Grecians’ website.

“But then there were pitch inspections at Barrow – the day before and then at 12 and 4 on the day and we know what happened.

"It’s so difficult because when a pitch is playable at a certain time sometimes you can’t predict whether it is or isn’t going to get called off.

“You’re going on weather forecasts and sometimes you’ll miss out on a game that could have been played.

“Everyone at the moment is just desperate to get these games played because it’s getting too much towards the end of the season in terms of the backlog of games, especially if they don’t extend the end of the season.

"They’ll be doing everything they can to get the game on but if it is called off, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later."

If the game does go ahead, the Grecians will be looking to avenge Latics’ 2-1 win in the reverse fixture back in November, a game remembered for Danny Rowe’s stunning free-kick from distance.

Exeter are the division’s leading scorers on 48 with Oldham only seven further back, and Taylor is expecting an entertaining game if it beats the weather.

“They like to play football and Harry Kewell is a manager who gets them playing the right way, passing the ball on the floor,” he said.

“They’ve got a lot of loan players, and some very good ones as well, so it’s impressive how they’ve recruited those.

"They can only have five in the match-day squad though so two will always have to miss out.

“It's a game with two sides with good attacking intent and we have to hope there is a surface that allows both sides to do that.

“This time of year these low scoring games are mainly down to the pitches. We just hope the conditions, if it is on, don't impact on the outcome of the game.

“It'll be down to who takes their chances and as we've seen this season, goals change games."