JOHN Coleman insists a poor pitch at Newport County will not affect his side’s preparations for tomorrow’s game.

The ground is shared by three clubs, with Newport Gwent Dragons and Newport RFC playing rugby on the same surface, and it has had a detrimental impact on the quality of the pitch.

Leading sports turf consultancy STRI carried out an inspection of the surface on December 5, at the request of the Football League, and an estimated £1million upgrade was recommended to make the three-way ground share viable.

But Coleman has called for his players to play the same way and not be tempted to resort to a long ball game.

"A lot will be made about the pitch but it’s the same for both teams. I’m not going to get het up about the pitch. We’ve got good players who can play on any surface. If we get it right we can give them a good game,” said the Stanley boss.

"We won’t prepare any differently. We’ll still try to play our game and hopefully it will come through. It did last year.

"Their pitch was horrendous last year and we played some excellent football and won the game.”