Spurs to be greeted with 'snooker table' pitch for FA Cup tie at Rochdale

Rochdale's relaid pitch is like a "snooker table" ahead of their FA Cup clash with Tottenham, according to chairman Chris Dunphy.

The League One club were forced to put down the new playing surface as the pitch was devoid of grass in recent weeks.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said his players were at risk of getting injured if they played at Spotland, having seen a photo of the state of the pitch.

The Argentine has since apologised for his comments and will be greeted with a more acceptable pitch on Sunday.

Dunphy told Press Association Sport: "It's done and it's beautiful. I was on the pitch last night, it's like a snooker table. Tottenham will be very pleased when they see it.

"It's unfortunate that there has been all this talk about the pitch because it more or less took away all the goodness in beating Millwall over two games. But it was always our plan to replace the pitch and all we did was bring it forward.

"It all got a bit blown out of proportion. Somebody showed the Tottenham manager a picture of the Rochdale pitch. It's like showing somebody a picture of a bowl of curry and asking them what it tastes like. Until you actually get out there you wouldn't know what it was like."