Kieran Tierney has admitted he feared the worst when Ryan Bowman caught him just above the knee during Saturday’s game.

The Motherwell player was lucky to escape with only a yellow card for the offence, and Tierney was convinced he had initially done serious damage.

“Straight away I thought something bad had happened,” said the teenager."He caught me on the kneecap. It was a horrible challenge.

"It was sore. You kinda know sometimes when you have done something and I thought it was bad. He caught me high and my knee is all cut. I feared the worst.

"Thankfully it was okay. I got lucky.

"Having just come back from injury, the last thing I wanted was another one.”

Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers excused the tackle after the game, citing the uneven pitch as a contributory factor in what was a poor challenge, but Tierney might take a bit of convincing.

"The pitch has a bobble on it but there are no excuses,” said the Scotland internationalist. “It was a bad tackle. He just said sorry to me after it. I didn't say much back.

"I thought straight away it was a red card.

"If you look at my knee just now, and the fact he caught me with his studs that high...then you'd think it would be. But that's not my decision.

"The knee should be fine hopefully. It is sore but other than that, it's fine.”

Rodgers has revealed that he would like Celtic to install a Desso hybrid pitch – a playing surface used by the bulk of English Premier League sides that is grass sewn with artificial fibres - to replace the current surface.

It would cost around £2m to lay the preferred turf and Tierney believes it would be a worthwhile investment.

"We are coping well with the pitch,” said the full-back. “We are doing well.

"But it's not in the best condition it has been. Hopefully it can get better. Would it be worth paying the money for a new one? Yeah.

"It helps you play football and move the ball faster. If that happened, there would only be benefits.

“We just want the best conditions possible and I'm sure the groundsmen are working hard to do that for us.

"Teams will look at other sides and look at how they shape up against us if they do well.

"We just need to deal with every team coming to Celtic Park and adapt if need be.

"Is it tough when teams come and sit in against us but we got another three points and another clean sheet, so it's all positive.”