Nicky Maynard says he and his Bristol City team-mates are desperate to play against Cardiff City in the FA Cup tomorrow night.

Without a win in any of their last five outings, the Robins are in need of a victory to restore lost confidence and appease supporters who are becoming increasingly critical of manager Gary Johnson and his team.

But the mid-winter freeze which has gripped the entire country for the past 10 days has served only to increase the pressure on City's players.

Although tomorrow's third-round clash at Ashton Gate is in doubt, City staff are working around the clock to ensure the stadium is ready, in the knowledge that Maynard and his team-mates are eager to return to action.

"We just want to get out there and play," said City's 11-goal top-scorer.

"We're going through a bit of a sticky patch and, when that happens, you always want the next game to come around quickly so you can put things right.

"We desperately want to get back to winning ways and, with every game which is called off, the wait just gets longer and longer.

"We've been playing pretty well without getting the results we feel we've deserved, and that is frustrating for all the lads.

"We want to put that right on the pitch, but the weather is stopping us at the moment.

"It's been a couple of weeks without a game now and all we want to do is get out there and play again."

City's last two scheduled games – at home to Cardiff in the Cup and away to Crystal Palace in the Championship – have been postponed and tonight's weather forecast offers little prospect of tomorrow's fixture beating the freezing conditions.

But Maynard insists he and his colleagues will still prepare for the game as though it were definitely going ahead.

He said: "As professionals, we have to prepare in the right way as though the game were going on.

"If the game does get called off at the last minute, at least we know we have done everything we can to make ourselves ready for it.

"Obviously, we have not been able to do all the things we would have liked in training, but we've still done enough to be ready for the game.

"It's not just us, because everyone is affected and we're all having to do the best we can in the circumstances."

City groundsman Craig Richardson and his staff have installed hot air heaters beneath the covers on the Ashton Gate pitch and the club is confident conditions inside the stadium will be sufficiently safe to enable tomorrow's match to take place.

The club has also employed an army of workers to ensure the car parks surrounding the stadium are free of snow and ice in a bid to satisfy health and safety requirements.