Pompey say efforts to improve Fratton Park's sub-standard pitch are a priority.
The playing surface has come in for plenty of criticism this season and talks are ongoing with the contractors who worked on it in the summer.
Chief executive Mark Catlin told The News: 'As a club we are not happy with the state of the Fratton Park pitch and are speaking almost on a daily basis with the company who carried out the work.
‘Last summer the pitch was completely taken up and relaid, with all-new sub-drainage put in. During the process we consulted one of the most respected pitch experts in the business on the work required — a company used by many of the top clubs up and down the country. But despite that, as anyone can see, the pitch is not acceptable. It is not right.
‘The training pitches are pretty good to be fair, when they are playable they are in a good condition. But they are also not draining as perhaps we would like. We are in ongoing dialogue with the contractors.
‘Obviously, you cannot get grass to grow sufficiently during the winter, so we are expecting the situation to be put right in the summer. They will be carrying out a process called sand banding, involving strips of sand being applied below the surface of the pitch.
‘It means rather than water settling on top of the surface, it drops through the sand to get through the drainage system below. The pitches do not have to be completely dug up or relaid. It is a case of scarifying an inch or two off the top, introducing the secondary drainage system and then reseeding.’
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