Motherwell boss relaxed over SPL pitch inspection

Motherwell boss Craig Brown has welcomed the Scottish Premier League's interest in their pitch despite receiving a warning over the "inadequate" surface.

The park, which was re-seeded last summer amid a £350,000 overhaul that also saw the undersoil heating and drainage upgraded, has struggled during Scotland's worst winter for 30 years with large barren areas exacerbated by soft foundations.

Although no referee has postponed a match at Fir Park, the SPL have refused to rule out forcing Motherwell to play home games away from their stadium.

But Brown, a former match delegate for the league, said: "I would like to commend the SPL.

"It's not often they get complimented but Neil Doncaster and (secretary) Iain Blair were sitting in my office waiting on me on Wednesday morning well before nine o'clock, by which time they had looked at the park and spoken to the contractor and general manager Leeann Dempster, who produced an excellent presentation on all that had been done on the pitch.

"I genuinely believe the SPL, much-maligned in some instances, deserve great credit for their due diligence.

"They were there to ensure with their own eyes that the park was acceptable enough.

"There is the awkwardness of determining what is adequate or not adequate in terms of a football pitch, but your eyes are your judge.

"I was delighted they gave credence to the match delegate reports because they did confess the recent reports on the pitch were poor, but I think that would apply to most pitches at this time.

"They are still warning us they are monitoring the situation so we respect that and we'll do our best to make sure the park continues to get better."