CITY today confirmed changes to arrangements for fans wishing to watch training sessions at the Club's Colney Training Centre.

The Club remains committed to allowing fans in to watch some training sessions at close quarters - but from this Friday (August 17) the training centre will only be open to the general public as follows:

In a week which includes a midweek fixture - All training sessions closed to public.

In a week with no midweek fixtures - training sessions on Monday and Tuesdays open to the public.

This means the training session this Friday is NOT open to the general public. Supporters on pre-arranged tours (i.e with the Study Support Centre) are not affected.

The move is a reluctant response by the Club to the increase in new media technology and the advent of 'citizen journalism', whereby a fan armed only with a mobile phone can post information, pictures or video footage gleaned from a training session directly themselves or indirectly through a friend into the public domain via websites.

Unfortunately there have been a number of incidents in recent months whereby sensitive information about team selection or fitness of players has found its way into the public domain via this route.

City boss Peter Grant told First News: "We still very much want Colney to be a friendly and open place where fans can visit and watch training sessions. Unfortunately though there are some days when information from the training ground is more sensitive - like the day or two before a game when we're starting to look at formations, or when a player who is fifty-fifty due to injury may or may not be involved.

"However remote the possibility may seem, I don't want to hand out any advantage whatsoever to our opposition. Last season there were a couple of occasions when information unfortunately got out on to websites that I wasn't happy with from training sessions when I was trying to get the squad ready for an important game. The media look at the websites too and there's just that risk of something getting out which compromises what we are trying to do before a game.

"And this happened yet again before the Preston game last weekend, when our exact line-up and personnel leaked out on the day before the match. I've had managers say to me post-match 'we knew you were doing this or that' and I can't have that.

"Last season when Earnie was injured on the training pitch before a game it was on a website before I had got back to my desk, which isn't acceptable."

From now on training sessions will only be open to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays in a week which does not include a midweek fixture.

City's Head of Media Joe Ferrari commented: "We have always tried to maintain open access for the public to Colney in the past but the security of certain selection and fitness issues is of paramount importance to the Club in the build-up to matches. Therefore we have taken this step reluctantly. It brings our policy more into line with that of most other professional clubs in the country, where access to training sessions is either heavily restricted or, in some cases, not allowed at all.

"It is hoped that in addition to those sessions still open to the public under the new arrangements, one or two additional open training sessions will be held during school holidays in the future."