Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson was far from happy with the way the decision to change venues for tomorrow's Carabao Cup tie with Coventry was handled having labelled the situation as "a farce."
After a day of discussions on Monday, the decision was eventually taken to move the contest to Burton's Pirelli Stadium after Coventry's CBS Arena failed a pitch inspection.
The pitch, which is full of "craters and divots" after 60 tonnes of sand was poured onto the turf was deemed unsafe and unplayable after a referee inspected the pitch before Sunday's postponed contest with Rotherham. The stadium is owned by Wasps Rugby Team who failed to get the pitch relaid over the summer after it hosted concerts and the rugby sevens during the Commonwealth Games.
Burton are situated in the northern section of the draw, while City's match with Coventry is played in the southern section. Pearson shared his frustration at the move and said the questions need to be directed toward the EFL.
In his pre-match press conference, Pearson said: "It's in the northern section and it's been a bit of a farce but I try to concentrate on the football. I'm not an administrator and I just think it's been poorly handled.
"I'm not getting drawn too much into the whys and wherefores about the availability of the pitch but like I say we have to concentrate on the football because the rest of it has just been really poor.
"We've had to change the hotel for a start, it's been hard to get somewhere close. Travel arrangements and hotel arrangements have been very difficult to organise. The questions need to be aimed and the EFL and other people, certainly not me, I'm a football manager."
City head into the contest on the back of two defeats in the league, having lost from winning positions both against Hull City and Sunderland. The Robins may come up against a familiar face in Kasey Palmer, who joined Coventry for an undisclosed fee in the summer having fallen out of favour in Pearson's plans.
He made just one league start last season with his final appearance coming in the 6-2 FA Cup defeat to Fulham at the beginning of January. The club had also been keen to get his wages off the books in the previous two transfer windows with the player one of the highest earning members of the squad.
Pearson explained the decision to allow Palmer to leave, insisting that he didn't have the intensity in his game required to be performing in his squad.
He said: "He didn't have the profile of what we want. We're trying to create a squad and a team that has the ability to play at a high intensity in and out of possession. Kasey struggled to get pitch time last year and it was consequently time to make a change. Players either fit what you're trying to do or don't... that's football.
"We know what Kasey is about, we know his strengths and weaknesses and we're just preparing ourselves for the game. Simple as that. He's one of their squad so I'm sure if he does play, he'll want to do well."
Looking ahead to the game, Pearson admitted the league remains the priority but admitted his side needs a result to get their season up and going despite highlighting the positives in the performances so far.
He added: "We need to get a result for our own season because it's been a frustrating start, bearing in mind that in the games we have played pretty well.
"We've done okay in terms of how we play but unfortunately, we're still giving soft goals away. In the first game, we were hard done by but in the second game the goals we conceded were poor goals and we need to rectify that.
"We've got a group of guys who are honest. Will work hard and find a way of getting a result in a cup competition that's not a priority. The league is always a priority for us and that's how it is."
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