Nottingham Forest head groundsman Ewan Hunter has explained the process behind this summer's pitch renovations.

Contractors arrived at The City Ground yesterday to commence work on a surface which stood up well to last season’s wear and tear.

Hunter said: “It’s not a massive renovation this time, we’re not having to turn the pitch over as we did last year, but we do have to remove the grass even though it still looks in good condition. There are many different species in the pitch which won’t survive competitive football over the winter months. We’ll remove all the annual meadow grass, which creeps in throughout the year, and move forward with 100% rye grass.

“The first thing the contractor will do is use a machine to take off the first 15-20mm of the pitch, which will remove all the vegetation and leave a nice clean surface. From there we’ll apply around 60 tonnes of moist sand, verti-drain it for aeration and seed into that.

“We were very pleased with how the old pitch performed but the plan, as always, is to improve the following year. Last season’s pitch is going to be a hard act to follow but hopefully we can go one step better.”