Apr 20, 2009, 14:02 GMT
London - The Football Association admitted on Monday that the pitch at the new Wembley Stadium is in need of improvement.
The surface has been much criticised since the new stadium was opened two years ago, but the harshest condemnation yet came over the weekend with both the losing managers in the FA Cup semi-finals attacking it.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger dismissed the pitch as 'a disaster' and 'laughable', while Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had left out senior players for fear they could sustain injuries on the 'spongy' pitch.
Last November the Australia Rugby Union even investigated to see if the Wembley pitch had contributed to injuries suffered by two of their players in a game against the Barbarians.
'Whilst recent changes to the surface have seen improvements in player traction, we accept there are still further improvements to be made,' an FA statement said.
'Wembley Stadium will continue to work hard to address these issues for our next matches.
'The grounds team has made continual improvements to the pitch since opening in 2007, however, the stadium's unique environment continues to prove challenging.'
The pitch will play host to three Football League play-off finals, the Blue Square Premier play-off final, the FA Cup final, the FA Trophy and the FA Vase final before England play a World Cup qualifier against Andorra there in June.
An AC/DC concert, three Oasis concerts and four Take That concerts will be held at Wembley over the summer before the pitch is relaid for a sixth time ahead of the Community Shield in August.
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