"It is not ideal" Sheffield Wednesday pitch condition explained with frank admission made

The playing surface at S6 has been a source of conversation at this time of year in recent seasons, with areas of the field sometimes noticeably soft under foot and a rolling ball sometimes taking a bobble as the weather turns and the fixture schedule runs deep. Efforts will be made by a small and committed ground staff to improve the pitch in time for the two teams to resume battle on Friday when they meet in an FA Cup fourth round clash.

The pitch at Hillsborough has already hosted four matches in the first three weeks of the year thanks in part to the third round home tie with Cardiff City and Wednesday's involvement in the FA Youth Cup. But it was a stroke of misfortune with the weather that contributed most pertinently to the choppy condition of the pitch over the weekend, with freezing conditions rendering the pitches at their Middlewood Road training ground unusable leaving their undersoil-heated stadium pitch as their only available option.

Comments have been made about the indoor 'dome' facility at Middlewood Road being out of action, though the fact is that it has always been used sparingly for first team activity, with alternative options taken even in similar cold snaps in previous years.

"We trained three times this week on the pitch," Owls boss Danny Röhl told The Star after their Coventry defeat, admitting the conditions were a way short of optimal. "It is not easy, it is not ideal but we have to find solutions and it is my job to find these solutions. The pitch at the training ground was frozen.

"If you train on this pitch and then play on it, it can give you an advantage," he smiled. "Opponents can maybe be a little bit surprised at how the pitch looks. We invested a lot into the game and it can be disappointing because when you do that and come away with nothing it is hard to take.

"We will see what we can do with the pitch this week. We will play them (Coventry) three times in five weeks, it is always difficult for both sides. We will bring players onto the pitch to beat them and make sure we go into the next round, but of course we will have to have a look. It is about what we can do as a team."