Cardiff boss Dave Jones has warned his players they cannot use the much-criticised Wembley playing surface as an excuse if they struggle against Blackpool (Cardiff 13/10, Blackpool 21/10, draw 9/4 90 Minutes) in Saturday’s Championship play-off final.

The Bluebirds will hope to overcome Ian Holloway’s Seasiders and clinch a place in the Premier League (Cardiff 8/13 to gain promotion) for next season which brings with it a reported £90million cash windfall.

However, after Chelsea skipper John Terry became the latest big-name player to launch a scathing attack on the quality of the Wembley playing surface following Saturday’s FA Cup final, Jones is getting his players prepared for the worst.

“We can’t do anything about it so we’ll just have to get on with it,” said Jones.

“We won’t blame the surface.”

In fact Jones feels his players could even be at an advantage ahead of the game given that the Cardiff City Stadium’s surface has also been lambasted for its poor quality this past season so they will be used to playing on a difficult pitch.

“We had complaints about our ground but there was nothing we could do about it,” added Jones.

“The groundsman was pulling his hair out because he had been worried.”

In the meantime, Jones is just hoping his players can adapt well to the ‘massive occasion’ and end Cardiff’s 48-year exile from the top division.

He said: “We’ll have a look at the pitch but if the pitch is a mess what are we going to do? We’ve got to get on with it.”

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