With a capacity of 32,944, Pride Park is the biggest stadium to ever host a Women’s League Cup final.
Chelsea captain Millie Bright said players “are really lucky” to play at such a venue but agreed the pitch was not up to scratch for a major final.
“It’s an amazing stadium but when you come to a final you do expect a lot more quality from the pitch,” she said.
“It is disappointing, it’s a massive game, a massive cup final and as you can see from the state of the pitch I’m guessing it didn’t look too good on TV either. It disrupts the game a little bit as well.”
Saturday’s game was the first of four matches in 12 days between the two sides, with two Champions League quarter-final ties and a WSL meeting coming up.
Nick Cushing, who took interim charge of Manchester City on Monday after Gareth Taylor was sacked, agreed the condition of the pitch was not ideal.
“I would like the pitch to be a little bit better,” he said. “It is what it is.”
Former England players Rachel Brown-Finnis, Fara Williams and Ellen White all felt the pitch played a part in the type of football that could be played.
Williams said: “There is a real bobble on it, the pitch is really cutting up.
“It’s not great quality for the football that we want to see.
“But Chelsea played the conditions. We spoke about the pitch, Chelsea used it to their advantage. They didn’t play pretty football but they adapted.”
Former goalkeeper Brown-Finnis was even more scathing, saying: “The pitch looks pretty substandard and is not befitting of a Women’s League Cup final.
“There is a lot of sand on this pitch.”
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