Farsley have carried out essential work at their ground and are confident they will receive an A Grade from the Football Association's ground grading committee, which would be sufficient for them to play League football.

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It will be some welcome good news for the Blue Square Premier outfit who are still reeling from Leeds City Council's decision to turn down a planning application which would have seen a section of the land at Throstle Nest sold off for housing in order to fund a complete refurbishment of the facilities at Newlands.

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Chairman, Andy Firbank, said: "We have done the work we needed to do, we have put in extra turnstiles, done some Tarmacing and a few other bits and we are not expecting any issues with the ground grading.

"That should get us the A Grade, which would be suitable for League Two for instance, and that obviously fits in with our plans of continuing to move forward.

"As I have said before, we believe there is room in Leeds for two Football League clubs and we fully intend to be that second club. We are confident from a ground view nothing is going to stop us."

And Celtic haven't given up hope of a more complete overhaul of Throstle Nest, despite the planning setback 12 days ago.

They were hoping to sell off the old cricket pitch at Throstle Nest to Bellway Homes – who proposed to build 26 houses and 31 apartments on the site – and use the funds generated to redevelop the main stand and clubhouse and improve car parking, as well as upgrading the outer pitches and sports hall and install an all-weather pitch, facilities which would all be available for community use.

The council has left the door open to Farsley, stressing there was "still hope" for a revised scheme to get the go-ahead and saying it would work closely with the club to find a solution which would be suitable to all parties.

Firbank – who saw Farsley give themselves a massive lift in the battle against relegation with a 4-2 victory over Weymouth on Saturday – is clearly disappointed with the decision, but the club aren't giving up and he explained why.

He said: "What they are saying is they are quite happy to work with the club to get the right development on the site that benefits all parties, but we have been doing that for the last four-and-a-half years.

"This is not something we have just put in front of them. We have done it in conjunction with their planning officers – people they employ – and messed about with it loads of times.

"Every time they have asked us to jump we have jumped that bit higher. And we have consulted Sport England and the council's sport and leisure department throughout.

"But if we have to re-submit then that's what we will do. Yes, we probably will get the A grade anyway, but that's just minimum standards. We want to make it as pleasant as possible for football supporters in Leeds to come to Farsley.

"Saturday was a fantastic spectacle, it went one way and the other and everyone loves games like that, but it also comes down to facilities. If you have got to queue for half-an-hour to use the toilet or to get a burger and you get wet because there aren't enough covered seats you are less likely to come back."