Work has already got under way at St Andrew`s to install undersoil heating in time for next season.

The club`s troublesome pitch once again attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons back at the start of January when Blues` FA Cup third-round tie against Wolves was postponed due to a frozen playing surface.

Not for the first time, the midlands outfit came in for criticism as a result and co-owner David Sullivan announced almost immediately that undersoil heating will be installed this summer at a cost of £500,000 to prevent it from happening again.

That work is now being carried out as part of the club`s `New Year, New Start` initiative and it is expected to result in a consistently high-quality surface.

A big screen will also be erected this summer and will stand between the Main Stand and the newly renamed Gil Merrick Stand, formerly the Railway End.

Meanwhile, Blues have announced they will face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in a pre-season friendly on Saturday August 1.