St Albans City joint-manager, Jimmy Gray, has admitted he is no plastic fan – but he is a fan of what they can bring.

He was speaking in the wake of his side’s defeat at Maidstone, whose Gallagher Stadium is home to a 3G artificial pitch.

When asked on his thoughts on the pitch, Gray was caught between top camps.

He said: “I’m not a fan of it whatsoever. But if we had one of our own, the resources and money it brings in would let us do a lot more possibly than we can at the minute at Clarence Park.

“So from that point view I am a fan.

“We train on it every now and then down at Nicholas Breakspear but we don’t want to be playing on plastic pitches every week because it’s a slower game and we want to play with our quicker players to the fore.”

Having led a nomadic existence since they emerged from the ashes of the former league side, Maidstone found their home at the newly built stadium in 2012.

And that has a huge impact on the revenue the club can make.

The City manager added: “I spoke to the physio down here who said the money it generates is frightening and you can see that from the players they’ve got in their side.”