Sheffield Wednesday head groundsman Steve Kiddy is happy with how the pitch at Hillsborough is progressing and beginning to take shape during the close season.

With no more football to played in S6 until the start of 2010/11 season, the ground staff at SWFC are well into their preparations for getting both the playing surface at Hillsborough and the training ground ready for action.

Kiddy told Wednesday Player: "We started our renovations around ten days ago and we completely removed the top surface and put 60 tons of fibre sand back in. The weather is with us at the moment and everything is looking favourable.

"We have got the notorious South Stand looking well with the help of the lighting rig which we have managed to acquire. The pitch near this stand is always my worry because it's in the shade but this side is coming on leaps and bounds and the rest of the pitch will catch up in the coming weeks."

With many areas of the pitch shaded by the South Stand, the ground staff at the club have to find ways around getting sunlight onto the pitch and the artificial lights are proving an excellent solution.

Kiddy continued: "The light rig falsifies sunlight. With a big stadium like what we have at Sheffield Wednesday, and I always say that although we are a League One club, we have a Premier League stadium, there are certain areas of our pitch that don't see any natural sunlight and these extra lights replicate the light and do a great job.

"We virtually have one shot at getting the pitch right and if we don't take it, it will be a struggle for the rest of the season but as things stand we are very, very happy at this stage."

The Owls have no pre-season friendly matches on home soil this season and this is another factor that will aid Kiddy and his team in making the pitch perfect for the new campaign.

He added: "We're not forcing the pitch on that much. When you have a small window to work in, you tend to use more fertiliser, more water and rush it through but we can take our time with it this year."