Wolves install new pitches to improve passing game

The head coach wants his side to train on the same surface that was laid at Molineux last year as he continues to stamp his tactical approach on the club ahead of their return to the Premier League.

And head groundsman Wayne Lumbard revealed the project should be completed by July, in time for when the players return from their summer break.

Asked if the project would help the players, Lumbard said: “Yes, exactly the surface for the type of players that we have got that play passing football and like a good surface, a good level surface.

“That obviously helps with their style of football and helps us rather than the away team.

“Nuno obviously wants the best playing surface that we can possibly get.

“The only way forward with that was to do what we did at Molineux because that has been so good, and what they have got at Molineux, they want down the training ground. So what they train on, they play on. So the only way was to invest in the new pitches, which will hopefully be as good as Molineux.”

The project was kick-started after talks were held with the club’s senior management and spearheaded by Nuno.

The plans were first mooted last year but work only begun several months ago so the pitches could be ready in time for summer.

Lumbard said: “We have been talking about it for the last seven, eight months. Obviously it is not something you can decide overnight. There is a lot of planning that goes ahead.

“We started about seven or eight weeks ago purely so we could have pitch one back for when they come back in July.

“Everything was geared up really to have an early start so we could have one pitch back for them to train on as soon as they came back after the close season.”

The new training pitches will be state-of-the-art Desso GrassMaster surfaces.

They are the same ones which were laid at Molineux last summer as part of a six-figure investment.

Lumbard added: “They will be maintained and constructed exactly the same as Molineux.”