The Owls have put the first phase of growing a brand new pitch in operation.

Work began on Monday, with ground staff ripping up the existing surface in preparation for the next stage, which includes reseeding next term's pitch.

The playing surface caused well-documented concerns throughout the 2007/08 campaign given the flood damage last summer. And naturally, head groundsman Steve Kiddy is eagerly awaiting the much-needed changes.

He told swfc.co.uk: "We've removed the existing surface - around 10mm - off the whole pitch and turned it over four inches deep. It's mainly to dry the whole underneath out.

"It's going really well, the weather has been great for us, we've not had a drop of rain so the longer it can stay dry while it's turned over the better.

"We need another 24 hours then we'll start the levelling process and get some seeds down by the end of the week."