JAMES Tavernier last night blamed the artificial pitch at Rugby Park for the knee injury his Rangers team mate Jamie Murphy suffered against in the Betfred Cup match against Kilmarnock.

Tavernier, who supplied Alfredo Morelos for all three of his goals in a 3-1 win, described the plastic surfaces as "a hazard" and admitted it was disappointing they were allowed in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The right back, who was one of the players who contributed to a PFA Scotland survey that rated the Rugby Park pitch as the second worst in the top flight, urged the SPFL to look at it again.

“I honestly thought it was his ankle at first," he said. "But when he got stretchered off we knew it was something serious right away. I saw him after the game and he was in a full leg brace.

"That is twice now I have been to this stadium when a player has suffered a bad injury. First it was Waggy and now it is Murphy. These astroturf pitches are always a hazard and are always going to cause injuries to any professional.

“I guarantee you that Murphy wouldn’t have the injury that he got today if it had been a grass pitch. He planted his foot, got a wee nudge and then just felt something go. If that’s on grass that’s not going to happen. That’s obviously disappointing.”

Tavernier added: “The PFA asked us to do the survey and rate every pitch and obviously we rated all the astroturf pitches badly. You feel more wear and tear on your legs after playing on them. Something has to be done.

"Livingston have just come up and have been allowed to put an astroturf pitch down. It is something that is disappointing. You don’t want to see it in our league. But obviously it is down to the league, not the PFA. But Rangers are good enough to come to these stadiums and play the way we want to.

“We can only come back to them and tell them how we feel about the pitches. At the end of the day it is down to them if they want to do anything with it. We will just keep carrying on doing what we have to do at each stadium.

“As a footballer, you just want to play football. As a kid you played on anything. As a professional you know you’ve got to play on all kinds of surfaces. We are going to go to Russia and play on the same material.

"You know it is something in the game and you just get on with it. But if you have a choice you chose grass. If you are a Premiership team you should be playing on grass.”