MARK Yates is hoping to sow the seeds of success for next season - by insisting on a complete overhaul of the Aggborough playing surface.

Yates has spoken of his desire for Harriers to express themselves more during matches, but admits his players have been hindered by the poor state of the pitch.

The Kidderminster chief was so concerned that the surface was inhibiting the brand of fluent football he wants to play, that he has ordered work to be carried out as soon as the season ends.

"It's no secret that I'm not happy with the state of the pitch," said Yates, who has recommended a new firm of specialists to come in and do the work.

"We've decided as a club that work needs doing on it and we're going to get a new company in to do it properly over the summer.

"We need a pitch we can play on and be proud of."

Yates emphasised that he was not knocking the current groundstaff and he said that the poor surface was a consequence of dry weather.

He pointed out that the problem was not restricted to Aggborough with many of the leading Premiership clubs also struggling with their playing surfaces.

"During the night games it's not so bad when its damp but when it's dry on a Saturday it is poor. It's just mud and rolled dirt with bits of dead grass on it.

"It's not surprising with the weather we've been having and even people like Chelsea and Man Utd are having problems.

"But we can't let it get as bad as this again."

Yates revealed that funds had been set aside to improve the pitch at the start of May - but admitted that the board could not afford to have the grass re-laid.

Harriers have pre-booked commitments to stage a Worcestershire FA Cup final and a five-a-side tournament after their Conference campaign concludes at home to Accrington on April 29.

"We haven't got the money to completely redo it but if we can get this company in early enough it will give them chance to do their work and give it time to recover."

A fixture-free Saturday this weekend will give the surface a break because the scheduled home match with Grays has been put back to Tuesday March 28 due to Athletic's FA Trophy commitments.

The afternoon off will also give Harriers' walking wounded the chance to shake off various knocks and ailments.

Skipper Daryl Burgess is expected to return to training next week after seeing a chiropractor about the back injury that forced him to miss the Tamworth and Crawley matches.

Michael Blackwood is also making good progress with the bang on the knee he sustained at The Lamb on Saturday.

Russ Penn celebrated signing a new two-year contract extension by returning from suspension for the draw with Tamworth.

But a virus kept him out of Tuesday night's win over Crawley, an illness he expects to shake off in time for the trip to Forest Green Rovers a week on Saturday.

The only other casualty is Wayne Graves who is nursing a stomach/groin problem which could sideline him for around 10 days.

Meanwhile, Yates has praised Gavin Hurren for effortlessly stepping into a back four with an average age of under-20 against Crawley.

The defensive unit of Hurren, Johnny Mullins, Jonny Harkness and Junior Osborne were outstanding as they kept a clean sheet against the Sussex strugglers.

"Gavin Hurren was outstanding at the back and rightly got man of the match," he said.

"It was only when somebody pointed it out to me that I realised how young the back four were because Junior is 18 and the others are only 20.

"It's good to see and hopefully it's a good sign for the future."

Yates also described Simon Russell's winner against Crawley as a snapshot of the type of exciting football he wants to see his players regularly produce.

The boss was positively purring at the quality of the goal, even though he would have liked more fans to have witnessed it.

"They do things like that in training all the time and I'm always on at them to express themselves and produce a bit of magic, which is difficult on our pitch," he added.

"I was disappointed with the size of the crowd but I suppose with it being cold and Arsenal on the telly you can understand it.

"But it's up to us to bring them back with entertaining winning football."