BURNDEN Park is doing Wanderers no favours as its century of service draws to a close.

The famous old pitch is on its last legs and the runaway leaders are having to watch their step as they try to keep ahead of their rivals.

Players came out of the 2-2 draw with promotion rivals Sheffield United complaining that they are being handicapped in home games

Per Frandsen shook his head and grumbled: "The pitch is bad at the moment. It's making control of the ball very difficult."

Scott Sellars, who coped better than anyone on the tricky surface, complained: "It's poor, there's no getting away from the fact that it's not helpful to us. "We'd like to say otherwise but that's probably why we play some of our best football away from home. We're a good passing side and the pitch doesn't help us produce the quality we are capable of.

"But we understand they aren't going to spend money on it because we're moving to the new stadium. Hopefully next season will see a big change."

Colin Todd says the pitch should not become an issue to distract his players as the promotion race reaches its climax but he acknowledged their concerns.

"I wouldn't look at the pitch as an excuse because it's the same for both sides and the main thing is for the players to go out there and to be positive," the manager said.

"But it might just have hindered us more than Sheffield United on Saturday because we like to get the ball down and pass it while they are a more direct side."

However, he put the issue into perspective with a quip guaranteed to give the hard-working Burnden groundsmen sleepless nights.

"Maybe we'll have to train on it every day to get used to it," he suggested.

They'll be relieved to know he was just joking.

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