Pitch perfect: SCG surface ready for A-League derby

SCG officials are confident the playing surface for Saturday night's A-League derby will be in perfect condition for football despite a wicket growing underneath in the centre field for the upcoming cricket season.

Sydney FC's match against Western Sydney Wanderers will be the first football game played at the historic ground in 33 years and despite its unfamiliarity with the round ball in recent years, the pitch has been tailored to its requirements.

The Sky Blues have worked with the grounds staff at the SCG to ensure the playing surface will be soft, flat and quick enough for the derby having previously expressed slight concerns the ground was a touch too hard for football. Sydney FC trained on the ground last week and again on Thursday ahead of the derby, with the pitch having been softened to their request.

"We make sure the hardness for the outfield is the same as what is in the middle. At the same time, we will make sure the cutting height is the same. The players won’t know if they’re playing on the outfield or the centre wicket,"  SCG Trust grounds manager Justin Groves said.

"We put an aerator on it this morning just to soften it up. Sydney FC had a training session on it last week and said it was a touch hard but they were pretty happy with it. The speed of the ball coming off the surface was something they were happy with."

A crowd of between 30,000 and 35,000 is expected for the derby, with a slow uptake in tickets continuing for the designated seats allocated for Western Sydney Wanderers supporters. About 3300 tickets had been sold for the specified away end, significantly less than previous derbies held at Allianz Stadium. That figure isn't representative of the total number of travelling supporters as other Wanderers fans purchased tickets in general admission tiers of the stadium.