Mark Lawn reckons City’s “Premier League” training base next season will stop anyone grumbling.

The club have struck a long-term deal with Woodhouse Grove School to use their facilities alongside Apperley Bridge.

City will continue to train on the outdoor pitches at Rawdon Meadows but can now work on the school’s artificial surfaces and in their indoor sports hall. A state-of-the-art fourth generation pitch will also be ready from January.

Lawn said: “It’s a great deal with Woodhouse Grove and we’ve had to sign a 12-year lease to get it.

“It’s going to be as good a training facility as the Premier League. The players won’t be able to moan about the training ground now.

“But we will still use the same pitches down there because they are good pitches. The trouble is that sometimes it floods, although not as much as people exaggerate.

“Nine times out of ten, the problems come from the ground freezing up, not flooding. But then a frozen pitch will be a frozen pitch wherever you are.

“But now we’ll have a proper facility inside. And it’s a private school so they’re not scrimping on what they are putting on.”

The training facilities are not dependent on whether City stay at Valley Parade or not. But the players will be able to eat there, which cuts out the need to drive back to the stadium for meals after sessions.

Lawn added: “We’ll have full use of the swimming pool, gyms, physio facilities, a feeding area and sprung indoor sports hall. And the current 3g (artificial) pitch is being lifted two metres so there is no risk of flooding.

“We’ll have inside and outside training, which is the most important thing in the winter. The players will train and eat there and then go home – they will only need to come to the ground for matchdays.

“They can do one session, eat, then train again in the afternoon. You couldn’t do that very easily before because you had to come to and from Valley Parade.

“You look at the gym facilities and they are better than any round here. So there are no excuses.”