ANDY Preece has spoken of his desire to minimise training sessions at St George's Lane next season.

Player-manager Preece wants to cut down on the twice-weekly floodlit sessions at Worcester City's home ground to avoid a repeat of last season's torn-up pitch.

The surface took a battering in March and April and Preece was disappointed at its condition during the Nationwide North run-in.

Over 100 games were played in different guises, including first-team, reserve and ladies fixtures, at the Lane last term, in addition to first-team training meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A similar problem could be envisaged if Evesham United take up the offer to ground-share with City during the second-half of the 2005/06 campaign.

Preece is hopeful a solution will be found to trim down the turf's wear and tear. He said: "We are looking at one or two things for next season just to help the pitch as much as we possibly can and keep it in the best condition.

"We want to play football the right way and that means we need a good pitch, something we didn't have for the latter part of the season. It wasn't conducive to playing good football and it was difficult for us.

"It may be that we cut down on the amount of training on the pitch and that's something I'd like.

"But we are only looking at the moment. It just depends on what floodlit facilities there are in the area."

City chairman Dave Boddy said the problem was finding local floodlit facilities with grass pitches.

Boddy said: "We are always looking for alternatives to training on the pitch. But there are very few floodlit facilities on grass. There are facilities with artificial surfaces, but managers don't want players to train on that."

Meanwhile, long-serving defender Carl Heeley has been installed as club captain for his new club, Nationwide North rivals Hinckley United.