Heavy snow postpones Burnley vs Spurs, but Brown and Tierney would be proud of Dyche

Conditions in the north west of England were far from ideal with the Premier League's winter ball getting its first real test on a virtually white pitch.

Temperatures in Burnley plummeted, with snow seemingly putting the game at risk of postponement with grass barely visible an hour before the 2pm kick-off.

The game was then called off, but Burnley boss Sean Dyche didn't seem at all bothered by the conditions in scenes reminiscent of Scott Brown and Kieran Tierney training together at Celtic.

The long-time Tykes boss went out to test the playing surface in just a shirt and tie, perhaps already trying to get one up in the mind games ahead of rival boss Antonio Conte.

But his attempts at one-upping the recently appointed Italian came to no avail, with the game eventually called off.

Dyche said he was disappointed it was postponed.

"We were planned and ready for the game and I'm sure they were as well," he said.

"But I must say, a lot of people have been working hard here over the last couple of hours, to try get this game on.

"As you can see, the pitch just keep re-covering everytime they clear it.

"The referee explained the safety angle as well, they have just made the decision as early as possible."

Spurs boss Conte was pleased his players did not have to play.

"I think in these conditions it's not football. I want to play football, I want to have fun, to play and to give emotion," he said.

"I think in this situation it's impossible and there is serious risk for the players to take injury and this is not good."

Storm Arwen has hit the UK hard, with gale-force 100mph winds taking Burnley's home tie as their first victim.

Asked about the under soil heating, Dyche said: "It's been on, it's just fallen that quick and that heavy, it has just come down to quick for the system to work.

"We would have had to keep clearing the lines of snow and stopping the game, which the referee explained.

"But it's a joint club decision from everyone concerned, but there has been a lot of good work from everyone trying to get it on, that's for sure."

Burnley had hit a decent run of form after a poor start to the season, and would have been eager to punish a Spurs side reeling from Europa Conference League defeat to Mura.

That will now have to wait though, much to the disappointment of Dyche who looked more than ready to spend his afternoon on the touchline in freezing conditions.

And one Spurs fan will be equally gutted at the decision to call the game off given he travelled 31 hours from America to Burnley, via a train from London.