Chairman Geoffrey Richmond believes Bradford City have seen the worst of their Valley Parade pitch with the surface improving markedly in the last week.

Despite City winning 11 of their last 12 home games, the poor state of the pitch has been causing concern among supporters and players.

Heavy rain led to the last two home games against Crewe and Crystal Palace being played on a poor surface to hamper the Bantams' free-flowing style.

However Richmond said: "Last weekend we were able to bring in a vertidrain machine which has put thousands of holes in the pitch to allow both water to run away and air to get into the pitch. We were very keen for the last two home games to go ahead and to do so we had to use a waterhog, which took thousands of gallons away from the pitch.

"The ground staff had to put in some Herculean efforts to ensure both games went ahead but we feel it was worth it because we got six valuable points.

"The games would not have gone ahead without the waterhog. The work did do some damage to the pitch, but we always felt it was a price worth paying. What we didn't want was a build-up of fixtures later in the season.

"As well as the vertidrain being used on the surface, the fixture computer has been very kind to us because it has allowed us to give the pitch a rest.

"The surface is flat and looking much better now. Despite there being one or two bare patches, the pitch now looks like it did before the Grimsby game in the FA Cup at the start of January. We are confident it will be in good shape for the next home game."

The next visitors to Valley Parade are City's promotion rivals Watford on Saturday, February 6.

The Bantams have a promotion showdown with Birmingham City this Sunday in a game which is being televised live on Sky Television, kick off 1pm.

City have received an allocation of around 1,000 tickets and Richmond has warned fans it is an all-ticket game for City fans.

He said: "I think quite a number of fans seem to assume that because we have received a smaller than usual allocation, then all the tickets have been sold. We still have around 500 tickets left."

Tickets are available from Valley Parade priced £16 (£9 concessions) for the game at St Andrews.

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