Manager Garry Kimble hopes Witham Town’s pitch will allow his team to play the football that they want after work started this week to improve the playing surface at the Village Glass Stadium.

Kimble thanked club ambassador and Witham MP Priti Patel for her help in assisting them to get funding to carry out the pitch improvements and the Town boss thinks it will have a big impact in the way his team can play.

He said: “The first phase of the work has been done, with all the digging out work completed, 60 tonnes of sand have gone down on it and it has been reseeded so all we’re waiting for now is for nature to take its course and the new surface to get established.

“No disrespect to the club as they have done what they could in previous seasons, but it wasn’t the best and we appreciate what Priti Patel did for us in helping us get funding.

“Hopefully we’ll see the benefits next season.

“I think it will allow us to play more in the way that we want to and it’s something everyone can look forward to.”

One drawback of the work being done, though, is that there are unlikely to be any pre-season games at Witham played this summer as the new surface knits together properly.

However, Kimble hasn’t been idle and has already set up a friendly at Stanway Rovers on July 11, one at East Thurrock on July 18 and another at Barking on July 21.

The Town boss is still waiting to find out what his playing budget will be for next year, though, so is having to wait before making any squad announcements.