DANNY Heale admits he was “very frustrated” that Canvey Island were given late notice their clash with Met Police had been postponed due to a floodlight failure.

The hosts encountered the problem at a youth game at Imber Court on Thursday and they could not be repaired in time for the Gulls’ visit.

But Heale said he was not told of the problem until 11am on Friday, meaning he did not have enough time to inform his squad of a possible earlier kick-off time of 1.30pm.

“We all do this because we love football, so none of us enjoy having a Saturday afternoon off,” said the Canvey manager.

“It was very frustrating the way it came about. Met Police had floodlight problems on the Thursday evening but we weren’t told until 11am the next day and that is far from ideal.

“In a perfect world we could have played at 1.30pm on the Saturday but, because of the late notice, I couldn’t contact the players.

“A lot of our lads are schoolteachers or work in jobs where they can’t sit by the phone so I couldn’t commit to the game while I hadn’t heard from the players.”

This is the second Saturday in succession that Canvey have had a match postponed, due to the re-arranged East Thurrock United clash last weekend.

Heale watched his side lose that fixture 2-1 on Tuesday and he said he was doubly disappointed his team was not able to put that right against Met Police on Saturday.

Although he said the extra training session had allowed his players to gel with new striker Enoch Showunmi.

“It wasn’t all bad news as it meant players like Enoch could have more time training with the boys. He had only had one session before Saturday but we will have two more this week and we will all be raring to go next Saturday.”

Canvey are in the middle of a poor run, which has seen them lose five of their last six league games.

And Heale is looking to strengthen his squad ahead of their next game, against Peacehaven & Telscombe.

“We are still looking to add a striker and central midfielder to our ranks but that is a work in progress,” he said. “Luckily we have Dobbo (Kevin Dobinson) coming back and he will be a big boost for us. He was very important for us earlier in the season.

“It is just the odd lapse in concentration that is costing us. If we weren’t creating chances I would be worried but that is not the case.

“So hopefully after a week of training we will be in a stronger position and will get the points against Peacehaven & Telscombe.”