Boss Alessio denies Celtic move for Killie’s Greg
Scott Mckenna became the latest player to suffer an injury on Kilmarnock’s plastic pitch yesterday. The Aberdeen centreback damaged his hamstring and is a major doubt for Scotland’s upcoming doubleheader against Russia and Belgium.
D o n s’ boss Derek Mcinnes was reluctant to say too much about the Rugby Park surface – which was re- laid in the summer – but was clearly not impressed.
He said: “He slipped on the pitch going into a pass, and he felt a tear in his hamstring.
“So you would have to say, without knowing the result of a scan on Monday, that he’ll be at risk for next week and for the Scotland games. “The Kilmarnock players were moaning more about the pitch than mine were.
“The way they soak it at half time had players slipping left, right and centre. I thought it was difficult.” Mcinnes refused to blame the artificial pitch for his side’s rather uninspiring performance but, like many managers, would rather they were not used.
It wa s Aberdeen midfielder Craig Bryson’s first real experience of football on plastic.
He spent the last eight years in England with Derby County.
The 32-year-old previously spent four ye a r s at Kilmarnock when they played on grass.
He was scathing about his first outing on his former home pitch.
He said: “At the start of the game, when they’ve watered it, the ball moves OK.
“When it dries out that wee bit then you don’t know how it’s going to bounce.
“In the first 10 or 15 minutes it skids on a wee bit, but when it dries them it just bounces up.
“I don’t think it should be used in the top league in Scotland.” Although Bryson found it a rather uncomfortable experience, he was pleased to have started his second game for the Dons.
He went on: “I had four months out injured, ma n a g e d to p l ay 60 minutes in the last game, and got 75 here.
“When you’ve been out that long, it’s just a case of getting minutes in the legs.
“I don’t think there was much quality from either side. We didn’t create that many chances. We kept the ball quite well but lacked ideas in the final third.
“At Aberdeen you need to deal with the pressure of being expected to win every game you play.
“We have a number of new players who have to get used to that.
“We now have a big game against Ross County before the international break and we have to win.”