Groundsman Alan Ferguson says his Portman Road surface will be fine for Saturday’s live Sky game against Swansea despite this week's snowy weather (KO 12.45pm, Sky Sports Two). Town’s high tech Teflon-coated covers were pulled across the pitch minutes after the end of Wednesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory over West Brom.

Ferguson says that despite heavy snow on Wednesday, there won’t be a problem: "There won't be any danger from the pitch side of things.

"There was several centimetres of snowfall on Wednesday night, but the forecast is that we won't get anything near as much in the build-up to the weekend."

Meanwhile, chief executive Simon Clegg says that Town were disappointed that England failed to land the 2018 World Cup: "We were obviously behind the England bid and were hoping to become a training venue at 2018 if the bid was successful.

"It's bitterly disappointing after all the hard work that went into the bid but I've had similar experiences before myself when we missed out with Manchester for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

"You have to recognise that these votes are not just about the technical ability to host an event. Politics in sport play a part."

Elsewhere, former Town loanee Giovani Dos Santos is said to be on his way to Genoa in Jaunuary, although Fiorentina, Lazio and Mexican side Chivas Guadalajara are also believed to be tracking the Spurs man.

Photo: Action Images

dobbie73 added 10:22 - Dec 3 Good effort Fergie!
0

NathItfc added 10:46 - Dec 3 'Town's high tech Teflon-coated covers' How high tech can some covers actually get?
0

legoman added 11:26 - Dec 3 Nath I would guess it gives the lightweight sheets more abrasion resistance and more protection against UV.
0

camposlocks added 11:34 - Dec 3 what affect will this have on a long ball playing team?
0

Big_Foot_Blue added 11:51 - Dec 3 i dont know if you were there on wednesday cmposlocks but we played excellent football. Closed down the opposition and once on the half way line we found a killer ball to priskin nearly every attack. Lets not be so down beat and see if we continue this good football on saturday before being negative hey!
0

simonsays added 13:05 - Dec 3 Since when did Swansea play long ball football Camposlocks?
0

BlueVelvet added 13:09 - Dec 3 Well done Fergie The bung of R50m per voter obviously did the trick. FIFA needs to be investigated. Where did Qatar come from. At least the Eurovision song contest is televised and mildy entertaining. FIFA's men in grey suits need to get real - their average age is something in the order of 63 dealing with a game played by players of average age of 25. Shake it up FIFA

0

bontcho added 13:20 - Dec 3 A great tribute to the hard work of our groundstaff.
0

hucks216 added 13:24 - Dec 3 Well I dare say if some FIFA members felt some discomfort at the issues raised by The Sunday Times & Panama then after the voting yesterday they haven't seen anything yet. The British media have at least another 12 years to dig and dig into the corruption at FIFA.
0

Gazelle added 13:34 - Dec 3 Pitch dimensions are approx 120 yds x 90 yds so if we had about 4" of snow on the covers that's 1200 cu yds. Where have they put it ?
0

Back_The_Boss added 13:40 - Dec 3 Good news, credit to the groundsmen.
0

Karlosius added 14:38 - Dec 3 Gazelle... it melted ;)
0

alfromcol added 14:53 - Dec 3 Gazelle......... have you looked in your back garden?
0

BlueVelvet added 16:09 - Dec 3 Gazelle, they have moved it with a digger and loaded it into trucks and dumped it off site (this is true) - So Mr (SnOasis) Spanner ('Adjustable' as his close friends call him - because of his spin and alleged distortion of the truth), if you need any snow to help kick start your pie (well baked alaska) in the sky project you know where to get some - hurry while stocks last, contents may settle (melt) in transit, serving suggestion...............

0

MyBlueHeaven added 16:09 - Dec 3 Roy Keane. He's got 99 problems but his pitch ain't one.
0

EatonBlue added 20:01 - Dec 3 Well now, I've just seen the state of the ground on Look Norwich err sorry, Look East, and I'd say that there is still a lot of work to do before it's all safe and ready.
0

50yearsablue added 20:59 - Dec 3 Maths not your strong point, Gazelle. Must do better - try again.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls