Matt O’Riley criticises Celtic Park pitch as poor surface makes life ‘harder’ for champions

Matt O’Riley criticises Celtic Park pitch as poor surface makes life ‘harder’ for champions

Matt O’Riley has lamented the condition of the Celtic Park field and acknowledged that Brendan Rodgers’ team is struggling as a result of the subpar surface.

Due to the persistent downpours and chilly weather in recent months, the Parkhead surface has suffered greatly. Six years ago, the

Hoops board invested approximately £1.5 million to build a new hybrid field. However, in January 2019, Rodgers disclosed that the

costly turf has been deteriorated by a “slight disease”.

Now back for his second spell in charge, Rodgers was critical of the pitch after last month’s 2-1 win over Rangers and O’Riley has

echoed his manager’s concerns. The hybrid surface looked particularly worse for wear during yesterday’s 5-0 Scottish Cup win over

Buckie Thistle as Storm Isha wreaked havoc across the country.

“I’ll be honest our pitch probably isn’t the best right now as well. I’m not making excuses but when you’re trying to break a low block

down it does make it harder and that’s why our mentality has to be top every game,” O’Riley said to Viaplay Sports, acknowledging

that the quality of the cut up grass is making it difficult for the Scottish champions to get into top gear every other week.

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