Capello decides not to train at stadium due to pitch concerns

England will train at their own base camp here today rather than on the Port Elizabeth grass where they are to face Slovenia, which has been over-sanded and is loose underfoot, adding another level of uncertainty to tomorow afternoon's match that Fabio Capello could well do without.

Groundsmen at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, where England's World Cup destiny is in the balance at 4pm local time tomorrow, are being urged to apply a heavy roller to the pitch to get the excess sand to compact and limit the extent to which the pitch cuts up, as it has in other games. "There is no overnight fix for this sort of thing and it's too late before the game to resolve the excess of sand," a South African pitch expert with knowledge of the World Cup surfaces told The Independent. "The only thing you can do is to make sure you give the pitch a heavy roll and try to get the sand to compact."

Sand is applied to pitches as protection for grass seed and for smoothness, though has been done to excess at England's next match day venue. Though heavy rain has affected Port Elizabeth, with the car parks waterlogged, it has not contributed to the pitch quality.

See thye rest of the article on the following link :- The Independent