Steve Clarke gives groundstaff day off to prepare for Bradford's shocking surface

READING manager Steve Clarke was set to give his groundstaff the day off yesterday as he prepared his players to get to grips with Valley Parade's notorious surface.

Steve ClarkeGETTY

Steve Clarkesays Bradford's poor surface will not affect Reading's game

Bradford have conquered both Chelsea and Sunderland on their way to the FA Cup sixth round, with both victories over Premier League opponents secured on pitches of vastly different quality.

Phil Parkinson's men are no kick-and-rush side, as their incredible victory on Stamford Bridge's carpet-like surface proved. They played their way back from two goals down to beat the Premier League leaders 4-2, before Sunderland were also outmanoeuvred on the Bantams' own patch.

However, despite their enterprising style of play, Valley Parade more resembles a cabbage patch with Sunderland boss Gus Poyet describing it as "one of the worst in the country" prior to his side's 2-0 defeat.

Reading have had to deal with a dodgy surface themselves in recent weeks, with rugby union side London Irish also playing their home matches at the Madejski Stadium.

And although Clarke has decided against training on that pitch ahead of his team's trip north, he admits a few divots on the training ground will be part of his team's final training session today.

Newspaper Review - Thursday 5 March

That would be my only concession to the state of the pitch that we're going to play on. I'll give the groundstaff the day off

Steve Clarke

When asked if he was concerned about the state of the Valley Parade surface, Clarke said: "Have you seen our pitch? It's pretty close.

"We'll train out there on the [training pitch] grass and I might get the ground staff to not repair the divots so that when we train on Friday so there's a few more divots on the pitch.

"That would be my only concession to the state of the pitch that we're going to play on. I'll give the groundstaff the day off."

Another piece of preparation Clarke could opt to use to his advantage would be to pick up the phone to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, having acted as the Portuguese's assistant for the three-year duration of his first stint in charge of The Blues.

However, as the Royals look to book their first FA Cup semi-final date since 1927, Clarke says he will be not be using his hotline to Mourinho, as the 17-time major trophy winner had no answer to the League One opponents.

When asked if he was considering it, the Scotsman's response was spikey, insisting: "No. Chelsea got beat. I won't speak to him, no."

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