Blackpool boss Neil McDonald has claimed that his players are ‘quite spoilt at Bloomfield Road’ as his squad continue preparations for the upcoming season.
The Seasiders began training in Scotland today where they will spend the next five days at Stirling University, whilst also taking part in fixtures against Ross County and St. Johnstone.
Whilst the training facilities at Squires Gate are being upgraded, Blackpool have been using their stadium as a base for pre-season and this is something that McDonald thinks his players should appreciate.
McDonald told the Blackpool Gazette that “we are quite spoilt at Bloomfield Road to be fair. We use the hotel for breakfast and lunch, so the lads are well hydrated as well as refuelling between our two sessions a day.
“The training ground has been redeveloped and that’s why we are working from the stadium.
“The progress with that is coming along nicely. They are just waiting to knock the building down now and have been doing some other work.
“We’ll base ourselves at the stadium until the full training ground is up and running.”
With the players training on the pitch, and the stadium hosting a concert last week, concerns have been raised about the quality of the playing surface after it suffered much criticism last season.
This is something that doesn’t faze McDonald, “I know there’s been a lot of talk about the state of the pitch, forget about the concert – I’ve spoken to the groundsman and I’m told it was down to using the pitch too much.
“We have to make sure the training ground can accommodate us properly.”
Despite the manager’s optimism, some Blackpool fans didn’t share the same views when the club recently tweeted pictures about the stadium’s new surface.
@BlackpoolFC just ready for Neil diamond concert to ruin it! Football always the priority isn't it?!
— David Seddon (@dseddon2) June 24, 2015
@BlackpoolFC doesn't matter with the concert in it weeks before the season
— Mark Webster (@mark_webster87) June 24, 2015
https://twitter.com/TigerFountain/status/613814401980870656
