Sunderland plan major pitch overhaul after implementing mid-season fix over last fortnight

Alex Neil believes the temporary work Sunderland have undertaken on the Stadium of Light pitch over the last fortnight will help his team in the final months of the season.

The threadbare condition of the pitch has been a concern for some time, with head coach Neil's predecessor Lee Johnson having spoken about it at length on a number of occasions.

Sunderland brought in pitch specialists SISGrass to stitch artificial fibres into the existing natural grass, with the work continuing round the clock during the break between the last home game against Doncaster Rovers on February 5 and today's game against MK Dons.

The full benefit will be seen when the weather improves in the coming weeks and months and the natural grass has had an opportunity to grow, and the hybrid system has a lifespan of three years.

In the summer, the club will undertake more work on the pitch - albeit they will be restricted as to what they can do because of the programme of concerts lined up at the Stadium of Light.

But the plan is to completely relay the pitch, and replace the undersoil heating and irrigation systems, within three years, with the current underpinnings having remained unchanged since the stadium opened 25 years ago.

In the short-term, however, the work done over the last fortnight should improve the surface for Sunderland's eight remaining home league games.

"There's been work on the pitch this week, although I would imagine that the weather hasn't helped much - we've had two major storms in the last three days," said Neil.

"I went down to the stadium yesterday after training, just to familiarise myself with everything and to have a look at the pitch.

"The club has spent well over £100,000 to try to fix the pitch and to make it