He todl todays Advertiser: "The heater blasts warm air across an area 30 metre square. "It was brilliant in tackling the problem area we have under the shadow of the main stand and if we consider it worthwhile in future, it's something we'll definitely have in again.
"To be honest, it's arguable that mother nature played as big a part on Tuesday because the rising temperature helped us, but we didn't want to leave anything to chance."
Fro next season the FL are enforcing rules which state clubs must have either one of undersoil heating or full pitch voers, and Douglas added: "This has been an unbelievable winter - We had a very wet November and then a cold spell from late December to mid-January. You also have to remember that Don Valley is a bowl and the cold air sits in the bottom.
"I pulled up at the ground for the Macclesfield match just before quarter-to-nine in the morning and it felt like a spring morning. When I walked out onto the pitch you could feel the temperature drop. The forecast was for the temperature to rise but it didn't rise quick enough to save the match. The referee arrived at noon and decided to give it longer before making a decision but in the end he just wasn't satisfied the pitch would be fit for play."
"The later the postponement time, the greater the costs," said Douglas.
"There's match programmes, stewarding, policing and ambulance expenses to consider. Saturday's call-off caused us a few thousand pounds. Looking forward, Sheffield Eagles rugby team are still using Don Valley-although Sunday's game was also called off-and there are other events there.
"If anything positive to come out of all this is that at least in the last few weeks the pitch has had a reasonable rest."
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