Celtic pitch concerns annoy Falkirk's Steven Pressley

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Pressley has defended Falkirk's pitch

By Brian McLauchlin

Falkirk manager Steven Pressley has expressed anger that Celtic have questioned the state of his club's pitch ahead of Sunday's match there.

The Glasgow club's concerns prompted the Scottish Premier League to inspect the surface at Falkirk Stadium.

"Our groundsman was voted third best in the UK last year and I've seen that man working until midnight on that pitch," Pressley told BBC Scotland.

"It infuriates me that they question the standard of our pitch."

The SPL last week suggested that Motherwell's Fir Park pitch was "inadequate", while the condition of other SPL surfaces have been the focus of attention and debate.

"We have all had to endure a very difficult winter and all pitches have been affected by the conditions," said Pressley.

It's not a pitch that's going to explode Falkirk spokesman Keith Hogg

Pressley thought that Celtic's suggestion that Falkirk's pitch is in poor condition could be because they are struggling to keep pace with reigning champions Rangers at the top of the table.

By the time Celtic travel to take on Falkirk on Sunday, their Glasgow rivals could have established a 13-point lead should they defeat St Mirren at Ibrox.

"All this does is bring added pressure to them and I can't understand their reasoning behind it," said the former defender, who played for both sides of the Old Firm.

Celtic have denied making any call to the SPL, but BBC Scotland believes that informal representations were made.

News of the club's concerns about the pitch came after Falkirk hosted Scotland's Under-21 European Championship qualifier against Azerbaijan on Tuesday.

Falkirk spokesman Keith Hogg said his club received a phone call on Wednesday seeking permission for an independent expert to inspect the pitch.

"We find there's nothing wrong with that; we're quite open here at Falkirk Football Club," he said.

"It's just part of the SPL's looking after the state of Scottish football and making sure that all our pitches are up to spec.

"To be honest, we're quite happy about that."

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Hogg said Falkirk had yet to receive the SPL's report following the pitch inspection.

"I've got to say, the vibes you get from someone like him, he was quite positive," he said.

"He took a couple of samples, shoved his nose into it and said 'yeah, everything's fine'.

"It's not a pitch that's going to explode."

Hogg said the weather had not helped the surface but did not believe it was mischief-making on Celtic's part to question the condition of the pitch.

"The covers have been down constantly, the undersoil heating has been on for a good while and, as you know, grass needs sunlight, but we've not had an awful lot of that," he added. "It will be perfect for Sunday's game."