MARTIN CANNING, the Hamilton manager, has defended the synthetic surface at New Douglas Park and insists if it is good enough for the Champions League then it is fit for purpose in the Premiership.
Accies defender Michael Devlin will undergo further examination from a specialist after he sustained knee ligament damage in the 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle on Saturday, while Jags forward Ryan Stevenson was also taken off with a knee injury. After the match, Kallum Higginbotham claimed Scottish football would go 'downhill' if plastic pitches continued to be used while team-mate Lyle Taylor this week claimed he feared he too would sustain an injury on the sticky surface. Tommy Wright, the St Johnstone manager, has also entered the debate and claimed the pitches are not 'the answer' at the top of the game.
Hamilton and Kilmarnock are the only two Premiership clubs who have artificial pitches but they have become increasingly popular outside the top flight as clubs look to the financial benefits of having a fake grass park. Accies train at New Douglas Park every day, while the stadium is regularly used by their Academy teams and Canning insists the pitch it is more than suitable for Scottish football.
"The surface is always true. If you want to get the ball down and pass it, there is no better pitch to do that because it is excellent," he said. "At this point in the season, I am sure there are some grass pitches which are rutted, dry and bumpy. You could say potentially there are injury risks with that. You could say that about every surface. That's just the way it is.
"At the level we are at, it is the best pitch we can get. You can play in the Champions League on a plastic pitch and if you can do it at that level, I am pretty sure we can play on it in our league.
"It will be the same quality that guys who are getting paid hundreds of thousands of pounds are running about on. If it is good enough for them, it is more than good enough for us to play on."
The debate over the suitability of plastic pitches at the top level of our game has been intense for some time but a quarter of Premiership teams will be playing on fake grass next season if Queen of the South emerge through the play-offs in the coming weeks.
The injuries to Devlin and Stevenson have brought questions over the safety of the surfaces, especially when they have not been watered, to the fore once again but Canning is confident Hamilton's pitch does not pose a risk to players.
"I don't think that is the case - well it certainly hasn't been the case since we had the plastic pitch," he said. "We have had as many injuries on grass as we have had on astroturf. It makes absolutely no difference to us.
"I think that is an on the day thing - if it's a dry surface that's just the way it is. We have no issue with injuries. There is nothing to back it up."
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