The missed chance for Brian Saah to make his long-awaited first-team comeback will be one of the biggest regrets of Torquay United's postponed npower League Two game away to Rotherham United.

Saah, out with a groin injury since the Gulls' 3-1 home win over Plymouth Argyle on November 19, had been poised to regain his place in the heart of United's defence in the wake of Chris Robertson's move to Preston North End.

The former Leyton Orient and Cambridge United centre-back was keen to take the pressure off manager Martin Ling before a week in which the Gulls boss is expected to start dipping into the loan market.

That window reopens on Wednesday, and Ling has already hinted that another defender and a forward will be top of his list of priorities.

The sale of Robertson, who would have been a free agent in the summer, has given Ling some added transfer firepower. He has Robertson's wages to play with and the "undisclosed" fee, believed to be about £50,000, will be an added boost.

The decision to call off the Rotherham game, just after 11am on Friday, did not come as a surprise. Manager Ling had received a call the previous afternoon that Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium was frozen hard, despite it being covered for three days.

Ling kept that information away from his players, because he did not want them in the wrong frame of mind as they set out for a Friday training session at Walsall, where his friend and former Orient number two Dean Smith is manager. But the state of the pitch at the Don Valley and a forecast of more cold and snow in South Yorkshire quickly ended any hope of Saturday's match going ahead.

Rotherham, with several injuries worrying manager Andy Scott and centre-back Michael Raynes suspended, are likely to have been relieved. The Millers are not in prime form at the moment.

Torquay, on the other hand, were more than ready for action. A run of 11 wins and only one defeat in 14 games has forced them into the thick of the promotion action.

"We were definitely up for it," said skipper Lee Mansell. "Not playing on Saturday means that we'll have to go back up there on a Tuesday night."

United have to wait until this Saturday, and a "six-pointer" visit from the side they beat in last season's play-off semi-final, Shrewsbury Town. The Shrews in fifth are one place and one point ahead of the Gulls.