Dales: Plastic pitches in Premiership a recipe for Dee-saster
DUNDEE winger Andy Dales didn’t even train on artificial surfaces in England – never mind play top-flight games.
PFA Scotland, with the backing of all the country’s top players, have put a petition to the SPFL asking for plastic pitches to be banned.
The on-loan Scunthorpe player has admitted playing on non-grass parks, like today’s visit to Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena, has been a culture shock.
He said: “There are none in England’s League One now and I had never trained on artificial pitches before I came here.
“I knew there were artificial pitches up here in this league. I don’t agree with it. It puts teams at a disadvantage and I just don’t think it’s right.
“Everybody at this level should have the same kind of pitch. Down the levels they are good for bringing money in but for the Premiership it should be the same surface.”
The 24-year-old was released as a youngster at Derby County and started playing non-league at Mickleover Sports before he got back into the senior ranks via Jamie Vardy’s V9 Academy.
And he’s well aware when it comes to Livi that the only thing that matters about their pitch is what they do on it.
Dales said: “There are no excuses because when it comes to the game both teams need to play on it. One team is more used to it than the other but on the day there can be no excuses.”
The winger has been one of several attacking options that Jim McIntyre has brought into his squad, with that cutting edge earning back-to-back draws.
And now Dales is looking to go one better and to put all three points on the board.
He said: “We’ve had loads of chances but we need to start putting more in the net. With the quality of the additions we know we have a good squad, I can see us moving away from the bottom end of the league.”