The Town squad trained on the new Portman Road pitch for the first time this morning and assistant Martyn Pert says the new surface will enhance the way he and manager Kieran McKenna want the Blues to play.

Town have spent £2.5 million on the new pitch with the extensive work having been ongoing throughout the summer.

While there have been reseeds and minor work each summer, the last really serious deep down reconstruction took place in the summer of 1977.

The new surface is a hybrid of natural and artificial grass, while undersoil heating and an irrigation system have been installed as well as a blue Astroturf trim.

“I think you’ve seen since the manager’s been here with the style of play that you want a good pitch for the style of play that we try and instil,” Pert said at this morning’s press conference ahead of the first training session on the new pitch.

“And the club has been really good with the development of the training ground in terms of the pitches that we’ve had put in place there, the pitches are a really good level at the training ground.

“And we obviously want the same at the stadium and I think the pitch was [more than] 20 years old, so obviously it need to be updated and the club were on board with that anyway before we arrived.

“It’s certainly something that we really wanted, in terms of a good pitch on which we could play the way we wanted to play and they’ve really invested in it and it looks good, doesn’t it?

“Around the sides of the pitch and the things that they’ve done, we’re really pleased with the work that we’ve done.”

Will it play faster than the previous pitch? “Yes, we were constantly on at the ground staff last year about cutting it. Ground staff want it as long as possible so they can protect the pitch but we want it as short as possible so we can have it nice and quick.

“With the technology that they’ve put into the pitch, it should play quick. It should play quick consistently through the year, that’s the idea of it because it’s stronger and it’s reinforced underneath, so it should be able to have a lot of consistency through the year and be a good pitch throughout the year.”

And greater consistency during matches? “They were dragging on the water as soon as we’d finished the warm-up. Now that’s not the case because they’ve got a pop-up system where they can really hose it after the warm-up.

“But obviously it’s a really hot day, by the time it gets to half-time, then it is drying out, nothing can stop that.”

Town fans will get their first chance to see the new pitch in action when Town face Bristol Rovers on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, before Stoke City visit for the first Portman Road Championship action of the season on Saturday.

Photo: Matchday Images/Richard Calver

Suffolkboy added 19:39 - Aug 8 WE shall see ,and will be pleased ; all year round playable surface ,and pretty well guaranteed entertainment whenever ! Been a long time coming ,but another welcome innovation and change at PRd . COYB
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Karlosfandangal added 19:50 - Aug 8 All getting ready for Prem football Let’s hope when the Astons and KMK leave the club we will be able to carry it forward and not end up with the Evans mentality. If you look at Man U their ground need an up lift which has been left since the Glazers took over
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gosblue added 08:57 - Aug 9 Did I read somewhere that the pitch was going to be bigger? Did that happen or is that one for the future? Exciting times COYB
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Bazza8564 added 10:26 - Aug 9 Gosblue, yes it is. It's about 4m longer with the centre line about 1m closer to the SAR stand. Goals will be closer to the stands as a result which should make it feel a lot more intimidating. We've all seen the pictures, and it looks great. I was at a meeting atthe club 2 weeks ago and I was amazed how much work has been done to smarten the Cobbold stand up inside too. The whole place looks sharper and much cleaner, a home to be proud of

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Linkboy13 added 11:12 - Aug 9 I should imagine McKenna would want the pitch to be as big as possible to suit the way he plays. Im not going tonight so it will be interesting to hear people's opinions tomorrow.
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gosblue added 14:19 - Aug 9 Cheers Bazza. Good info.
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