Bruce Elliott says he has been delighted with the performance of the Madejski Stadium playing surface since it's major reconstruction project last summer.

The Royals spent close to £800,000 on the pitch last summer as the old surface was completely removed to allow the construction of a brand new Desso system pitch.

And the Club's Head Groundsman says he has received positive feedback from the Reading players that it performed well throughout the 2007/8 Premier League campaign.

He said, "In the first half of the season the pitch was a bit soft, it was still bedding in as it's a very sandy surface. At that stage we had a bit of damage, especially through scrums at the London Irish rugby games.

"But towards the end of the season the pitch had started to firm up as we expected it to and to perform as a Desso pitch should.

"It certainly looked much better, and we expected that with the money the club invested in it last season.

"The main issue we had to resolve from the previous pitch was drainage - we used to lose a lot of grass coverage due to damage because the pitch wouldn't drain. Now it's at the stage where it can take pretty much whatever is thrown at it weather wise.

"There were a few games last season where we experienced torrential rain - the Fulham game springs to mind when it was heavy for a few minutes during the game. There might have been a little bit splash up on the pitch at the time, but a couple of minutes later and the water was gone. In those circumstances in the past we'd have experienced some damage, but it has recovered well this season."

"We spoke to a few players about the pitch and they all felt it had performed well. What the Reading players - and the London Irish players as well - were saying was that the playing surface was consistent, that they knew what they were going to get when they came out every week.

"In previous years they might not have had that consistency, and perhaps didn't know what to expect. People's attitude to the pitch is still that when there's heavy rain they expect a problem. But, in fact, heavy rain actually helps us now because it helps to bind the sand together and make the pitch a lot firmer."

Elliott admits that this summer is a much easier job for himself and assistant Gregg Bolton as they prepare the playing surface for a hectic 2008/9 schedule with extra fixtures in the Championship and the return of reserve games to Madejski Stadium.

He added, "This summer is a much easier project than last year's overhaul of the pitch. Last season £800,000 was spent on it in total, this summer it's £6,000, minimal work in comparison

"We're starting off with a fairly established pitch for the start of next season. We scarify the pitch to get rid of old leaf, organic matter and any weaker grasses. And we vertidrain it to aerate the surface and overseed it as normal.

"There are a few small issues like the fact the Desso grass doesn't reach right to the edge of the grass surface, it stops around half a metre from the edge. This isn't an issue anywhere except for the technical area for the coaches and the area where the players come out from the tunnel. So there is a bit of damage there where you lose grass coverage where there is no Desso support.

"So we're hand stitching the Desso in. On the main body of the pitch we use a machine to do this work, but for small areas we can do it by hand. It does the same job but on a smaller area."

"The summer is a time for letting the pitch recover. The temperatures have been good for us lately and with the showers it's great growing conditions for the pitch.

"We overseeded the pitch two weeks ago and it all seems to be coming through nicely. There are a few thinner areas, but we still have seven weeks before the start of the season, and we're far in advance of what we started with last season.

"So we have every confidence that this season the pitch will be very good. And it will have to be because obviously we have more home fixtures in the Championship than the Premier League and we also have the reserve games back this season. So we're under increased pressure in that sense but I'm sure the pitch will perform well again this season."