THE Football Association last night insisted they were not to blame after England's World Cup qualifier with Poland was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

The game in Warsaw's Stadion Narodowy was called off around an hour after the scheduled kick-off time after six hours of incessant rainfall created a series of large puddles on the pitch.

However, the abandonment was hugely controversial as the stadium, which was built to stage matches at this summer's European Championships, boasts a retractable roof.

The decision not to close the roof was taken by the Polish authorities on Monday, and by the time the rain started to fall heavily yesterday, it was too late to change tack.

The Polish FA claim that their English counterparts were involved in the decision to leave the roof open, a view that is disputed by the English FA.

FA communications director Adrian Bevington said: "The roof is something that's decided upon by the stadium, in conjunction with the Polish federation. We don't have a say. We did ask the question on Monday whether the roof would be open or not, and we were advised it would be open.

"The process now is that while the rain continues, the roof cannot be closed. Once it stops, it can be closed and we've said to the FIFA delegates that we expect the roof to be closed. Once the roof is closed, we'd expect the ground staff to get it fit and proper for a 5pm kick-off (4pm BST).

"We, within our group, decided we wanted to play the game (today). The FIFA rules stipulate that is when it should be played."

The Polish authorities had attempted to get the game put back to November, but England boss Roy Hodgson was adamant he preferred to replay the match today.

He will pick the starting XI that he selected yesterday, with Jermain Defoe preferred to Danny Welbeck in attack and Tom Cleverley and James Milner playing either side of Wayne Rooney, with Steven Gerrard and Michael Carrick linking up at the heart of midfield.

It remains to be seen how many England supporters attend today's game, and the FA was facing mounting criticism last night from the 3,000-or-so fans who had travelled to Warsaw.

The vast majority were due to return home today, and it was only at around midnight last night that they learned they would be able to attend today's game. It had previously been suggested that the Polish police could demand that the match took place behind closed doors.

There was very little English-language information available in the stadium to explain that last night's game had been postponed, and none of the England players acknowledged the supporters who had braved the pouring rain to make it to the ground.

"We have made it clear, frequently, just how important the supporters are to us," said Bevington, who confirmed the FA will look into the possibility of compensating members of the official England Fans Club who are left out of pocket by last night's events. "These are pretty unique circumstances.

"We had said to the players to get changed (back into their suits) significantly earlier than when the game would be called off because we didn't think there was any chance of the match being played. But we didn't want it to look as though we'd made the decision for them (FIFA). There's nothing but respect for the fans who have travelled all that way."

Hodgson was understandably frustrated by the postponement, but claims it was inevitable given the amount of standing water on the pitch.

"It was the only decision that could be made," said the England boss.

"Water was lying on the surface. I'm rather hoping they will get it (the roof) closed as quickly as possible and start to do some work on the pitch because at the moment it is in very poor condition.

"We're disappointed. We prepared well for this game, as no doubt the Poles did too, and now we have got to do it all over again. Hopefully, we'll be as well prepared again."