Premiership: Chelsea winning pitch battle

Chelsea are spending €204,000 on resurfacing their pitch after Marcel Desailly complained about their initial attempt to paint the mud green.

Amid a hectic period of four home games in December and six in January, allied to the bad weather over those two months, the surface at Stamford Bridge deteriorated fast.

A decision was taken on Monday morning to lay a new surface, with preparations being made on Tuesday and the re-turfing starting on Wednesday.

Managing director Colin Hutchinson told the club's website: "It is costing €204,000 and will be ready for our next home game against Fulham on March 6.

"The turf has come from the same fields in Lincolnshire as the Old Trafford resurfacing was taken from. It is like carpets being rolled out."

Desailly had been outspoken in his criticism of the appalling surface following last Sunday's FA Cup fifth round tie against Preston.

He had told ClubCall: "The pitch is terrible. I mean, they have been painting the pitch to let us think that the grass is still there.

"We have to look after it. We will try and sort it out because we cannot play. We are a kind of team who likes to play the ball on the floor.

"But with the pitch like that, we cannot play long ball and chase it, we have Gianfranco Zola up front and I am not sure he would like this kind of soccer."