The Valley Parade pitch will be the star attraction when City complete their pre-season programme tonight.

Neighbours Bradford Park Avenue provide the opposition, although the action itself will play second fiddle to the performance of the newly-laid playing surface.

Extensive work has been carried out during the summer to bring the problem pitch up to scratch for the new campaign but the real test comes when the players take to the turf for the first time.

City chief Peter Taylor said: “That’s the whole idea of tonight’s game. We didn’t want to schedule a game early on because we wanted to give the pitch as much chance as possible to settle in.

“That’s one of the things I complained about at the end of last season but, to be fair to the club, it’s something they have looked at and invested in.

“It’s looking good but the big test is once people start running around on it.

“It’s good to give local opposition a chance as well, so it’s a nice evening for the Bradford Park Avenue players and fans too.

“It’s a completely different test to Rochdale but as long as there are no silly challenges, it’ll be a good run-out.”

The pitch was completely ripped up at the end of last season after extreme winter weather conditions had left it looking worse for wear.

Drainage systems were overhauled and 130 tons of fibre sand was laid on the playing surface before it was seeded.

Finishing touches were applied yesterday when the pitch was marked for the first time and facilities manager David Dowse is delighted with the finished product.

“We were able to get on the pitch very quickly at the end of the season and crack on straight away,” he said.

“The contractors did a first-class job and then it’s just been a case of (groundsman) Mick Doyle continuing that hard work.

“We’re delighted with how it’s looking. Some people who have followed the club for a while have already said to me it’s the best they’ve seen it for a long while.”

City have enjoyed good fortune with the unpredictable West Yorkshire weather.

Due to its sand base, the pitch requires constant watering to prevent it from breaking up and the recent combination of rain and sun has proved ideal.

“We’ve been very lucky with the weather, although we did have one or two nervy moments,” said Dowse.

“When we had heavy rain overnight recently, I went in early expecting the worse. But when I got there, Mick was already out mowing the pitch.

“When we had heavy rain last year you weren’t able to even go out onto the pitch, never mind mow it, so the drainage system is working well.”