Wembley Head Groundsman Steve Welch says that the pitch at the new stadium is shaping up just as he expected, with artificial lighting set to aid the development of the grass over the coming weeks.

With England's Senior players getting their first taste of the surface on Wednesday, and the Under-21s taking part in a training session at the ground a day later, Welch was on hand as the turf saw it's first action.

Welch said afterwards: "The pitch is in much better condition than we thought it would be at this stage, it's getting better every day.

"We've only had the stadium for less than two weeks, until now we've been working in conjunction with the builders. Every stadium of this size has a challenge to grow and maintain a good pitch.

"Although the stadium has been designed to help maintain the quality of the pitch, there is still a period of the year the pitch is in shade. This has an effect on the quality of the grass, a challenge we will overcome.''

Welch is working towards perfecting the turf ahead of the first competitive games on the pitch.

He added: "As we get more sunlight towards May the pitch will get better and better. The end goal is getting it perfect for the FA Cup final so we're on schedule in that respect.

"When ten to 14 players are training in one 10-yard playing area it is bound to cut up. It's very intense for that area of the pitch, more so than in a game.

"No-one knows for sure how the pitch would react at first use, so these events are 'ramp-up' or test events for the surface and the ground-staff.''