TOTTENHAM can have no complaints about Rochdale’s new “snooker table” pitch, chair Chris Dunphy said today.

The club have been frustrated that their run to the fifth round of the FA Cup for only the third time in their history has been overshadowed by the condition of the playing surface at Spotland Stadium.

After being shown pictures of the pitch during Dale’s fourth-round replay win over Millwall last week, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino spoke out strongly, saying it would put the health of players at risk.

Pochettino apologised today and the surface that will greet the Spurs players tomorrow will be totally different, with Dale having taken the decision to relay the pitch in midweek.

Dunphy said: “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.”

Dunphy estimates Rochdale will make between £350,000 and £400,000 from the game, which is the first sell-out anyone can remember. All the tickets were snapped up in four hours on Monday morning as supporters queued in the snow.

Dale have never reached the quarter-finals and Dunphy said: “In my memory it’s the biggest game we’ve ever played.

“We’ve played Man United and Liverpool before but we played them away from home so for us to have a fifth-round cup tie at home against a very good Tottenham side, I think it’s massive. It’s great for the town, it’s great for the supporters.”