ian1964 10,447 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 THE perils of plastic pitches are all too often overstated, according to Robbie Neilson. Hibernian may have lost on the artificial surface at Queen of the South and Alloa, while Rangers could only scrape a draw at Recreation Park. Hearts, who are unbeaten so far in the Championship, travel to Dumfries tomorrow then visit Alloa next Saturday. But the head coach believes that astroturf should work in his team’s favour, not against it, and has confidence in the relatively new surface at Palmerston Park. “I think the surface will suit us,” Neilson said. “I’m not worried at all about playing on it and there will be no excuses for us failing to perform on it. It’s a good pitch, and the ball can get popped and zipped about on it quickly. “The majority of our guys have grown up playing on astroturf, whether it be the plastic at the academy [or elsewhere]. Even the foreign players like Osman Sow have experience of playing on it in Sweden. Adam Eckersley has played on it in Denmark and the Dutch boys grew up on astroturf. “It’s a decent surface, to be fair: it was relaid in the summer. However, it’s different from grass and we need to be ready for a different sort of game. “I would have no fears about playing all my players on it, although I would prefer grass. These surfaces change all the time – they’re better than they were even a year ago – so I wouldn’t take someone out just because it is on astro. “The preparation changes and the times we are out on the training ground will change. It is important you don’t overdo it on astro and train for too long. We went down to Spartans earlier this week and are training on our own astro on Thursday and Friday to make sure we’re ready for Palmerston.” http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/plastic-pitches-will-suit-hearts-robbie-neilson-1-3561234 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangersitis 0 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 One manager who refuses to allow his players to have a ready-made excuse for failure by not sowing seeds of doubt in their minds prior to games. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whosthedado 1,519 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I'd love it if they slipped up in both after he has said that 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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