Football
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Western Sydney Wanderers pitch 'like a car park' - Newcastle Jets boss

Newcastle Jets coach Ernie Merrick hit out at the condition of the pitch at Western Sydney Wanderers' Spotless Stadium pitch prior to Friday's A-League game, likening it to a car park.

Volunteers were required to help clear the ground, which had shards of plastic on the surface after it was used to stage a concert on Saturday, ahead of the match.

The pitch had been inspected and cleared by Wanderers and league officials on Tuesday.

Wanderers players trained at the stadium on Thursday and reported no issues a day before the ground's first A-League fixture of the season.

However, the heavy winds that lashed Sydney over the past couple of days are believed to have blown litter onto the pitch.

Merrick said he had inspected the conditions before the game and found a screw on the playing surface.

"I just had a couple of minutes to pick up some of the rubbish on the football pitch," he told Fox Sports. "I'm not sure if you could call it a football pitch -- it's more like a car park.

"Of course I am [worried], but the match commissioner says it's playable so it's playable.

"We're happy to play as long as we don't get an injury, but that's pretty bad."

Irrespective of debris, the condition of the pitch appeared less than perfect, with brown tinges in some areas amid different shades of green.

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