ON THE road again, just can't wait to get on the road again.

Newport County AFC fans have got used to pre-season friendlies away from home but it now seems that they may not see an Exiles match at Rodney Parade until the end of August, or even early September.

After weeks of radio silence on the matter, the Welsh Rugby Union has finally confirmed that there will be work on the pitch in July.

But, from a County point of view, there seems to be an alarming lack of urgency on the WRU’s part.

WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips tells the Argus today that the pitch is “a big priority” but, if that was the case, surely work should have started by now?

The Union takeover of Newport Gwent Dragons and Rodney Parade will not be officially completed until July 1 but it was voted through on Tuesday, May 9.

For four weeks the playing surface has been untouched, save for regular maintenance work.

Phillips added: “We’ve got a lot to arrange in terms of fixtures, because football starts early, and it’s about trying to find a window where we can put the pitch in.

“We will get it done, there is no question about that. We can’t go into the start of the season as we are and the window to do it really is July.”

With respect, the window to install the new hybrid pitch was in May and – at the very latest – early June. The time is now.

That would have allowed the Desso-style pitch – a hybrid of grass and artificial fibres – to fully bed in with plenty of time for the first weekend of the new English Football League season on August 6.

It may even have allowed County to stage a money-spinning prestige home friendly the week before rather than making do with a trip to National League Eastleigh on July 29.

Instead the Exiles now face the prospect of going cap in hand to the EFL to rearrange fixtures in the first few weeks of the new season.

“It could be that we need to have a couple of the first games away rather than home if we need that window,” said Phillips.

“Nobody wants that in that competitions need a home and away rhythm but we might need a bit of slack in August to get that done.”

That could potentially mean Michael Flynn’s men playing their first four or five league games on the road, as well as potential headaches over the opening games of the Carabao (EFL) Cup and Checkatrade Trophy.

That is hardly ideal for Flynn and his team in terms of building on the momentum of the Great Escape.

And it would undoubtedly affect the club’s chances of tempting the fair-weather fans back to Rodney Parade.

There were an extra 5,000 or so at the Notts County match on May 6 and the Exiles need to keep as many as possible.

But no home matches throughout August would seriously hamper the club’s ability to do that, as well as being a pain in the posterior for the near-1,000 people who have already purchased season tickets.

South Wales Argus:

Fans would also welcome a little more detail on what exactly is planned.

“It’s going to be a hybrid, grass and artificial, that should be comfortable with three teams playing on it,” explained Phillips.

But let’s not forget the findings of the damning report for the EFL on the problems at Rodney Parade, leaked to the Argus in January.

It stated that a hybrid system would keep the pitch playable but that the extent of wear on the surface with three teams ground-sharing would be high without the use of specialist turf lights and under-soil heating.

And it’s also vital that remedial drainage work is carried out or County, the Dragons and Newport RFC could well face the same old problems with the pitch next season – even with a fancy new playing surface.

The report found that work to raise the height of the pitch in the south west corner of the ground in May 2016 led to the drainage system being compromised.

It suggested that minimum renovation in the summer [of 2017] needs to be carried out to renew slit drains and the connection to primary drains.

That work would “reinstate conditions which existed at the start of 2014 season and reported reasonable playability until April 2015.”

But one big positive to come out of Phillips’ interview was the revelation that the WRU is in discussions with Newport City Council about funding for a revamped Rodney Parade.

The interest generated by County’s successful battle to beat the drop showed all parties that the football club has the potential to draw large numbers of people to the city.

And it’s in everyone’s interests to drag Newport’s premier sporting venue into the 21st century.