CITY are looking to bring in a new drainage system to rescue the Valley Parade pitch.

A second successive home postponement at the weekend highlighted the huge issues concerning the playing surface.

The current set-up is outdated and the club have already started talks about replacing it over the summer.

It is thought Saturday's late call-off against MK Dons will have cost City around £30,000. Referee Ben Toner pulled the plug less than two hours before the scheduled kick-off.

It was the only game not to take place in the top four divisions and the ground staff are now working to make sure the pitch will be playable for Wednesday's clash with Wigan.

But plans to renovate the drainage – the traditional problem at Valley Parade – are already underway.

Stadium and operations manager Paula Watson said: "It's massively high on the agenda.

"We had another specialist in on Wednesday last week just to talk about specifics of where the drains would go. We're just waiting for prices from those and another tender.

"It all depends on time frame. The whole works that need doing might need splitting out over two seasons.

"If we were 14th and knew we wouldn't be in the play-offs, it would be easier to make the decision. We would know what timeframe we had.

"But we're still all optimistic about getting in the play-offs, so we've got to book anything in for after the second play-off game. It would be another two weeks after the season.

"It might mean we have to do the work in two stages if we do go ahead with it."

Drainage work in the summer would take around three weeks and then the top pitch would need turning and reseeding. Watson believes it would make a massive difference.

"We're confident we'll see a pitch that's ten times as good as it has been this season," she said.

"The specialist that was in the other day looked at the drainage system we've got in and said they don't even use that technology any more because it's proven it's not the best under sports pitches.

"Not only is it kaput, but if it was working it's not what anyone chooses to use now.

"We all know we want to do it but we'd be stupid if we just chose the first available contractor. We can't spend that amount of money and it not be right."

Head groundsman Mick Doyle and his staff were on the pitch from 6.30am on Saturday as they tried to get Simon Grayson's first home game on.

But Toner and his officials were unhappy with a couple of areas, particularly between the penalty area and corner flag at one side of the Bradford end.

Watson said: "There was a hope but it's often in the body language. My positivity did start to wane when he did his first walk on the pitch.

"There were parts of the pitch that I thought were way better than our Boxing Day game. But he's the one responsible for the safety of the players.

"He said it's got to be about consistency as well as the bounce of the ball. If one bit of the pitch is very different to another, it becomes unpredictable and unsafe.

"The eight of them who were out there from first thing had blisters on their hands. They were feeling very frustrated after the two weeks we've had.

"But they'll get over it and start fighting back to get the pitch ready for Wednesday. That's what the focus has got to be now.

"We want to get a verti-drainer on the pitch – that would pretty much guarantee the game will be fine. But we need it to be dry."