Bradford City are to switch reserve games to Farsley Celtic to protect the Valley Parade pitch.

The club have been experiencing problems with drainage this season with several players complaining that the surface has been too heavy in recent games.

And after calling in sports turf experts, City have switched all Pontin's League games to Throstle Nest until the end of March.

The first home clash will be with Lincoln on Tuesday, December 15.

Managing director Shaun Harvey said the famous St Ives Turf Research Institute experts had pin-pointed a drainage problem

He said: "The drains, which consist of stone channels, have become blocked over the years and as a result the water is having difficulty draining away, particularly in front of the main stand.

"We have also been victims of the huge amount of rain which has fallen recently.

"The turf experts said that in the short term we should ensure that the pitch gets as little use as possible to allow us to spike the surface and allow air in.

"In the long term, we will need to undertake work on the drains but that can only be done in the summer months.

"We are therefore delighted that Farsley have agreed to us playing our reserve games before the end of March there. We chose Farsley because they have the best non-league pitch in the area and the Pontin's League agreed to the switch."

City assistant boss Chris Hutchings welcomes the decision to switch reserve games. He said: "The pitch looks good at the moment but the strip in front of the main stand is very heavy and makes running with the ball quite difficult.

"Because of the way we try to play and entertain people it can make it difficult for us. That is not an excuse but we have to try and make the conditions as favourable as possible.

"To help us in this we intend giving the pitch as much rest as possible and will play all reserve games at Farsley. We are very grateful to Farsley for this.

"Robbie Blake and Peter Beagrie both try to run with the ball and that can be much harder in heavy ground.

"What we must avoid is the pitch returning to the state it was in between January and April last season."

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