BURY return to the JD Stadium for a crunch promotion clash with Exeter on Saturday with serious concerns remaining over the state of the pitch.

Manager David Flitcroft has changed his tactics and style of play to accommodate a surface that he said had “failed” in large areas.

The situation was made worse following recent snow and rain, which saw the Shakers recent match against Wycombe Wanderers played out in near farcical conditions.

Ground staff pulled out all the stops to resurrect it to at least a playable state for the visit of Carlisle a fortnight ago.

And it is hoped that 14 days rest, coupled with drier weather, will have had a positive effect, but the club’s board have assured fans all steps are being taken to provide Flitcroft’s side with the best possible conditions to cement their place in the play-offs.

“As a club we are aware of recent concerns from the fans over the condition of certain areas of the pitch at the JD Stadium,” read a statement from chairman Stewart Day, who shelled out almost £150,000 last summer to have a new drainage system installed.

“We knew that we had localised issues with the pitch before the Wycombe Wanderers game and we were in the process of doing some remedial work in these areas, due to the fact that some of the sand slits had capped over because of excess rainfall and natural soil movement.

“The areas in concern have now become substantially bigger after the effects of the Wycombe Wanderers game, which in the opinion of many shouldn't have gone ahead.

“The club can't say enough about the effort the ground staff put in to get the pitch in a suitable condition for the game against Carlisle United.”

Day promised that those efforts have been stepped up in the meantime as the club looks to find a temporary solution before full repair work can be done at the end of the season.

“Since coming to the club we have strived to deliver the best possible playing surface at the JD Stadium,” he added.

“So we are disappointed the surface isn’t in the terrific condition it was in at the start of the season, but we are confident it will be back to its pristine state after renovation and the continued hard work and maintenance from the ground staff.

“We are now investigating the possibility of re-turfing the affected areas of the pitch in order to bring it back to a better standard.”