The British summer may well have failed to live up to expectation but one man who has been delighted with the recent spell of rain is head groundsman Mark Mathers. We caught up with him in the build up to the start of the season to find out his thoughts.

"At the end of last season the pitch had stood up fairly well to the rigours of nine months football," said Mark. "It was certainly in better condition than the previous May, clearly having benefited from not having the first team train on it for most of the season. Both Ian Brightwell and Keith were very helpful in that respect and the results were clear to see."

"That said we have still been busy over the summer months, carrying out the necessary work to bring it back to life again for the start of the season. The club once again has funded the not insignificant sum to allow us to get rid of the dead grass, verti-drain and re-seed and at the moment the pitch is on course. The weather has clearly helped as it has been warm and there has been plenty of rain. Ideal growing conditions really. So the mower has seen lots of work in the last month or so."

"The re-introduction of the reserve team means there will be nine extra games at the Moss Rose which is going to be a challenge and the 'Blues at the Blues' event this weekend is something we haven't had to deal with before. But we are confident that come the start of the season the pitch will be ready and its reputation for being one of the best surfaces in the league will be maintained."