Jones pitch warning to Cardiff

Last updated : 18 May 2010 By BBC Sport

Dave Jones has told his Cardiff City players must not use the under-fire Wembley surface as an excuse in Saturday's Championship play-off.Chelsea skipper John Terry criticised the pitch after his side lifted the FA Cup by beating Portsmouth last weekend.

Cardiff face Blackpool in the next game at Wembley as the clubs aim for a £90m jackpot of Premier League promotion.

"We can't do anything about it so we'll just have to get on with it," said Jones. "We won't blame the surface."

The Championship play-off final has been billed as the most lucrative one-off fixture in world football due to the financial boost to a club winning promotion to the top-flight.

The controversial Wembley pitch has been much maligned since the £750m stadium opened in 2007 and Chelsea and England star Terry hit out at the 11th pitch after Saturday's FA Cup final.

"It was not good enough for a Wembley pitch," said Chelsea captain Terry after his club's 1-0 win.

"It ruined the final and was the worst pitch I have played on all year."

The state of Wembley's playing surface has hit the headlines in recent weeks but Jones' Championship high-fliers have played on a poor pitch all season.

The Wembley pitch has been re-laid 11 times since the 2007 FA Cup finalThe threadbare Cardiff City Stadium surface has come under fire from Cardiff's own players this season as the pitch has been heavily used by the football team, the Welsh national football team and the city's rugby region Cardiff Blues, who share the new £50m ground.

"We had complaints about our ground but there was nothing we could do about it," said Jones.

"The groundsman was pulling his hair out because he had been worried."

While Jones' side may be used to playing on a poor surface, the experienced manager does not want the pitch row to detract from his side's bid to end their 48-year top-flight exile in their third Wembley visit in three years.

They last played their in 2008 when they lost 1-0 to Portsmouth in the FA Cup final.

"We all want to play at Wembley and no matter what the surface is like, we all have to play there," said Jones after his side's dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Leicester City in the play-off semi-final.

"It will be a massive occasion.

"We'll have a look at the pitch but id the pitch is a mess what are we going to do? We've got to get on with it."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport