Work has already begun on the Victoria Park playing surface to ensure it's once again in prime condition for the start of next season.

The main part of the process is expected to take around three days with the first task to "fraise-mow" the pitch using a Koro-Fieldtop Maker.

That should take a couple of days (though the rain is proving a hinderance) and once completed the pitch will then undergo a deep verti-drain - a process that aerates the playing surface and relieves compaction.

Following that, 60 tonnes of sand top dressing will be evenly applied across the pitch before the whole area will be over-seeded and then watering will begin.

"This season the pitch suffered because of a number of factors, one of the main ones being the poor winter we encountered," Head Groundsman Dave Brown explained.

"Some of the things we had to do to get games on - such as covering the pitch or sweeping snow from it - did not help in the long term.

"Usually it's a little difficult to watch the pitch being worked on at the end of a season - but this year I'm happy to see the back of it!

"The rain is slowing down the process a little - I can't believe we've had hardly any for weeks and as soon as the work starts it pours it down.

"We'll work hard over the summer and we're confident that the pitch will look as perfect as usual for the start of the new campaign," he added.