Former Arsenal and England footballer Alex Scott has hit out at the poor quality of pitches in the Women's Super League.

Both Birmingham's game with Manchester United and Bristol City's clash against West Ham were called off before Christmas due to waterlogged pitches.

And Scott is worried about the knock-on effect on the wider appeal of the women's game.

Writing in The Sun, she said: "It is unacceptable that many pitches in the Women’s Super League are not fit for purpose.

"This is the exact reason I wasn’t in favour of the decision to move the WSL from a summer league to winter in 2017.

"It’s cold, you’re competing with men’s football and games get called off because the facilities simply aren’t up to scratch.

"And take a wild guess what that leads to? A dip in crowd numbers."

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes described Liverpool's pitch before Christmas as one which 'shouldn't be a part of the league', comments she has since retracted.

But while the league continues to expand its audience, the standard of pitches is not improving with it and Scott feels something needs to be done.

"It goes down to more investment and maybe a criteria needs to be introduced into the league so women’s football grounds are of a certain standard," she said.

"Only 540 people turned up for Liverpool against Chelsea, which is poor."