CELTIC will have to deal with Stjarnan’s notorious plastic pitch that left three Motherwell players crocked after it emerged their tie in Iceland will NOT be moved to the country’s National Stadium.

The Hoops will head to the outskirts of Reykjavik in just under a month for the second leg of their Champions League second-round qualifier against the Urvalsdeild champions.

The Samsung Vollurinn Stadium is the same ground and artificial surface that Motherwell came unstuck on last year on Europa League duty as they left the home of the Stars with Simon Ramsden, Iain Vigurs and Stevie Hammell all injured.

As a result of training and playing on their dreaded ground, Hammell was out for almost three months and Ramsden for one, while then-Well boss Stuart McCall complained that several members of their squad had to play through the pain barrier after picking up knocks.

After bundling Well out of Europe, Stjarnan went on to then beat Lech Poznan before playing Inter Milan, with the play-off tie against the Italian cracks in Iceland moved to the country’s larger National Stadium in Reykjavik.

The Stars’ home ground only has a capacity of around 1500, whereas the stadium they faced Milan in holds 10,000 – and more importantly has a grass pitch.

It had led to speculation and reports that a large travelling Celtic support could have seen Ronny Deila’s team spared from Stjarnan’s troublesome plastic pitch.

However, SportTimes has learned there are no plans for the tie, which will take place on July 22, to be switched away from the Icelandic club’s modest home ground.

Speaking in the aftermath of his team’s 5-4 aggregate defeat at the Samsung Vollurinn last August, former Motherwell manager McCall said: "Some artificial pitches are better than others. If you can get them soaked they can be okay, but if you can't, the ball does not run true. It gets sticky.

"Certain players can't train day in, day out on an artificial surface. We lost three after training twice then playing on the one in Iceland.”