BARTON PITCHES IN TO DECRY DRASTIC PLASTIC AT ACCIES

PARTICK THISTLE’S Adam Barton has launched a withering attack on Hamilton’s plastic pitch and insists there is no way he would pay money to watch matches there. The midfielder claims the synthetic surfaces used at the SuperSeal Stadium — and also at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park — are so bad they reduce teams to low-risk, long-ball tactics. Thistle hauled themselves off the bottom of the Premiership table on Tuesday night — but moved back to the basement as a result of Killie’s draw at Rangers last night — following a goalless draw so devoid of quality that even Accies boss Martin Canning admitted he felt sorry for the fans. Barton (right) reckons something has to change and, when asked whether he would pay to watch a game on Hamilton’s pitch, he said: ‘Absolutely not. I just don’t think that’s football. It’s almost about who can have the best luck from a long ball. That’s all it is, in my opinion. ‘You can’t play football on them. It would be nice to see something change. No matter how much ability or talent you’ve got, you have to forget about that when you go to Hamilton. ‘We had to change our game completely and basically hook the ball forward. We felt it was two points dropped. I’m surprised these pitches are allowed in top-flight football. I don’t understand it. ‘Even little things like sliding on it. I hit the ground, didn’t even slide and ended up grazing my knees. ‘You never really see teams passing out from the back. Even if there are a couple of passes, the ball then goes up. ‘You don’t get four or five passes inside your own area and then play out. It doesn’t work like that. ‘I’d be interested to see Celtic play there. Even they will need to change in some ways. ‘You have to concentrate on your first touch and you have less time to pick a pass. Everything’s against you.’ Barton claims players are not going to take any unnecessary risks on Hamilton’s surface and says it leads to a dearth of entertainment. ‘For teams that do like to play — and especially for myself, who likes to drop off and get on the ball — you can’t do it. I didn’t try it once. ‘If I get the ball and lose it because of a silly bobble or something like that, they could score. ‘Our midfield is there to try to keep us moving forward, but we just had to try to win second balls and headers.’