JUSTIN Merritt is calling on Oxford City to harness all of the positive energy surrounding the revamp of Court Place Farm to help move the club forward both on and off the pitch.

The Vanarama National League South club officially open the gates to their new-look ground tomorrow, when they host neighbours Oxford United – with whom they have formed a new partnership to run the facility – in their first pre-season friendly.

City’s 3G surface, which has been laid over an 11-week period by SIS Pitches, who will sponsor the club’s home and away shirts, passed a FIFA inspection on Wednesday.

The artificial surface adds to their existing training base, while the clubhouse has been refurbished and the rest of the ground given a fresh lick of paint.

Director of football Merritt is now hoping City can use all the excitement surrounding the renovation to their advantage.

“It’s a big transformation,” he said. “It’s totally different, but we would like to do a lot more.

“The players turned up for the first time a few weeks ago and were amazed at how it looked and there was a lot of excitement about it.

“We’ve got to capitalise on all of that positive energy and really carry that forward.”

He added: “It’s not just the first team, it’s everybody – the junior team, the disability team – we want to make a massive push to get the club on its rightful standing.

“There’s a lot of work going on to improve the coaching and the experience young players get.

“We’re working hard on behaviour, what we expect from someone who is playing football.

“We want to shape the club moving forward, so people are proud to be associated with City.”