Danny Wilson is counting down the days to the opening of the transfer window as he prepares to bolster his Swindon Town squad for a surge towards promotion over the second half of the season.
Not that Wilson has had much chance to survey the calibre of his own squad over the last month because of the freezing conditions and numerous postponements.
But today's League One match with Peterborough goes ahead after the County Ground pitch was passed as playable by local referee Simon Hooper some 27 hours ahead of the scheduled 3pm kick-off.
The pitch was in good condition under the covers and with the thaw now taking place, the referee had no hesitation in allowing the match to be played.
Swindon fans last saw a league game on December 4 and no match has been played at the County Ground since December 7, when non-league Crawley knocked Wilson's men out of the FA Cup.
So the visit of Gary Johnson's Peterborough will be Swindon's first competitive action for three weeks and Wilson has no idea if his team are in form or out of it.
At least the injuries and illnesses sustained by Paul Caddis, Alan Sheehan and Kevin Amankwaah have cleared up, so Wilson has a full squad available to him, except one important ingredient.
Former Leeds midfield player Jonathan Douglas is still waiting to start a three-match ban, which should by now have long been completed.
Wilson said: "It has been frustrating but most clubs have been in the same position so there is no point in complaining.
"The fear is that there will be a backlog of fixtures building up and that is not healthy. There is also the possibility that January and February will be just as bad as December.''
Swindon may be nearer the bottom than the top, going into today's match in 17th place with 24 points from 19 matches.
That places them 12 points behind leaders Brighton and yet only six behind Colchester, who occupy the last of the play-off places.
Wilson, meanwhile, expects to be busy in the January transfer window because up to today there are 27 league matches still to be played.
"I would like to think it is possible to get in one or two players and there are a couple of positions where we would like to strengthen.
"The position regarding new players varies from week to week so you never know what might happen.''
Wilson has been linked with the �150,000 permanent signing of Portsmouth's loan winger Matt Ritchie. while Torquay striker Elliot Benyon is another target.
But who comes in and how much Wilson has to spend depends on the interest in his leading scorer Charlie Austin.
Austin is in talks with Swindon about a new improved contract but they may become irrelevant if any one of Newcastle, Sunderland, Hull, QPR and Leeds step forward to confirm their interest over the next four weeks.
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