As far as Chris is concerned
Chris Burke reckons he is living proof that it’s not the surface you play on, it’s how you play that counts.
The Kilmarnock winger learned his trade playing on the red-ash pitches of Scotland’s west coast, notorious for robbing generations of players of sizable portions of their skin.
Yet, if he laughs at the memory now, it is with a fond reminiscence that bears no relation to the heated debate currently raging about artificial surfaces.
Killie’s Premier League meeting with Celtic this afternoon will be on the plastic pitch at Rugby Park.
But Burke swears he would be happy if it was played out in the jumpers-forgoalposts conditions of his youth.
“Listen, in that dressing room, we just don’t care,” said Burke.
“Put us on a red-ash pitch, put us on Astroturf, put us on grass and 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.
“There is an awful lot of talk about plastic pitches just now, but what I would say is that when I was younger I did not care where I was playing, I just loved playing football.
“And now that I am 35 years of age, it is the exact same thing.
“I remember I played on red ash until my mid-teens. The only time I got to play on grass was when it was a cup final or whatever.
“I played on Astroturf after that, too, for a long time.
“Then when I was fortunate enough to