Burke insists the surface tension over Killie plastic is overblown

Playing on our surface hasn’t done me any harm, says Burke

LAST SUMMER Chris Burke launched his own campaign involving plastic pitches, the ultimate goal of the crusade being to play as much football at Rugby Park as possible. The 35-year-old’s production since — today will be his 17th home game of the season — confirms the operation as a success by mid-February in his busiest season for five years.

So much for the moans about the toll on the body suffered by too much exposure to the artificial turf, particularly for players in the twilight stage of their careers.

Livingston manager Gary Holt lumped those complaints in with other ‘total cop-outs’ he’d heard surrounding anti-plastic arguments when addressing the PFA Scotland vote on banning them.

Kilmarnock winger Burke was less scathing of his fellow professionals for their dislike of the surfaces, which, in the top flight, include Hamilton and Livingston in addition to his home turf.

However, having scarcely felt better in many years, Burke insists that those three pitches in the Ladbrokes Premiership are not harming his career nor the image of the Scottish game.

‘I’m 35 years and I’ve been training here day in, day out, been available for selection 95-99 per cent of the time for the games,’ said Burke.

‘And I came from playing on grass all the time as a professional with Rangers, Cardiff, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest. So is that luck? Or is it because I look after myself and just love playing football?

‘We have to strip it back and think: “What are we here for?” We’re here to play the game and we just love playing football. It doesn’t matter where we’re playing.

‘Until someone comes back with facts and establishes the percentages of injuries on Astroturf versus grass, you get on with it.

‘It has not done me any harm, has it? So there we go. We don’t care in our changing room. Put us on a red-ash pitch. Put us on Astroturf. Put us on grass. We’re a team of consistency.

‘We’ll play any team, anywhere, and we’ve shown that over the course of the last 18 months.’

Steven Gerrard led a coruscating attack on plastic in the wake of the PFA survey findings, branding the Kilmarnock version — on which Jamie Murphy suffered a serious knee injury — the worst he’d seen.

By installing a new pitch for next season, Killie are hardly likely to placate the Rangers manager who believes the trend is ‘dangerous’ for the careers of professionals and the surfaces ‘awful’.

Burke’s form on the turf suggests he’s a certainty to be offered a new deal by Steve Clarke to play on it.

The pitch wasn’t a concern when Burke weighed up committing to Kilmarnock in the summer of 2017 but the after-effects on the body of a debilitating illness were. He suffered from herpes zoster, a strain of shingles that wiped out virtually an entire season with Ross County.

Under Lee McCulloch then the miracle work of Clarke, Burke

gradually gathered himself to become a factor again in the top flight. However, he managed only five appearances — all as a substitute — after the winter break as Killie stormed into the top six.

‘I was disappointed last year with how my season went and I didn’t want to end my career that way,’ said Burke. ‘I knew what had to change.

‘And it was just about giving it time after having a bad virus at Ross County. This season, I knew if I had the same level of fitness as my team-mates, I would have a chance of playing.

‘Of course, you are energised by this team’s momentum — and that doesn’t just go for me. It goes for the whole group of players, fans and people who have worked here for many years. We’ve seen the lows and now we are experiencing the highs.’

Few can be rated higher than the come-from-behind 2-1 defeat of Celtic the last time Brendan Rodgers brought his champions down the M77 in September.

Celtic let a lead slip, starting with Burke’s 25-yard strike midway through the second half to cancel out a Leigh Griffiths opener.

Youssouf Mulumbu-inspired Killie beat Celtic last February in addition to twice securing a point from Parkhead.

There is no Mulumbu today as the on-loan midfielder, who joined Celtic as a free agent in August, can’t play for Clarke against his parent club. But Kilmarnock no longer want for belief when facing the giants of the division, thanks to their manager’s guidance since taking over 18 months ago.

‘The win over Celtic last time was a fantastic result,’ stated Burke.

‘Since the manager came in, he has said to us that every team we play, he doesn’t see why we can’t get the three points and we should always strive for that.

‘It’s something we’ve taken on board. We’ve shown we can get maximum points in games against the top teams. So there is no reason why we can’t do it again.’

After league business today, it’s a William Hill Scottish Cup replay and fifth meeting of the season with Rangers on Wednesday night.

That’s back at Ibrox where Burke’s 90th-minute equaliser sparked the Clarke revolution and brought an end to Pedro Caixinha’s catastrophic reign in October 2017.

Clarke boasts a record of just two defeats in eight clashes with Rangers since his appointment.

‘We’ve had a few challenges of late and dealt relatively well with them,’ noted Burke. ‘Obviously Celtic then Rangers are intense games but it is great that we are still in the Cup.

‘And it is great we have Celtic coming here in a situation where we are now always looking to win the game and close the gap. That’s the main aim.’

Put us on a red-ash pitch, put us on Astroturf, put us on grass — we’ll play any team, anywhere