RONNY DEILA has blasted Hamilton’s plastic pitch by describing it as ‘not normal’ and ‘very, very bad’ to play on.

The Hoops battled on the artificial turf yesterday to claim a 2-1 win over Accies at New Douglas Park, but it was a difficult task at times for the defending champions.

The newly-laid surface appeared to irk the Celtic manager as his team struggled to fully assert their dominance over their hosts.

Deila insists he has no issue with synthetic grass – last year he wanted to build a full-size indoor park at Lennoxtown – but the Norwegian has hit out at Hamilton’s effort by insisting its slippy surface needs addressed.

He said: “It’s very tough thing to do to play 12.30pm on a Sunday when at 8pm on Thursday you are also playing. You don’t get anything for free.

“The pitch today was very, very bad to play on. It was slippy all the time.

“We didn’t have control of the ball so then you get a lot of running. This was an open match and we needed character to turn this around. I’m very proud we managed to get the three points.

“I’m very fond of artificial pitches but this is something I have seen in four games here now. People are slipping all the time and something has to be wrong with it, it’s not normal.”

When asked if he believes the pitch's issues need addressed, Deila added: “Yes, of course.

“It’s not good for anybody. You want to play good football. It was difficult.”

Heading into the international 'break', the Celtic manager knows a bulk of his men will get nothing of the sort.

After being involved in two games within the space of four days, many of the Parkhead club’s stars will disappear to play for their respective countries.

It has been a testing early part to the season for all involved at Celtic, but Deila has been pleased with how his men have ended this first run of fixtures.

He said: “A break would be the best thing! Everyone says that Celtic has to win everything because we are so much better than anyone.

“And of course we also say that we are the best. But I don’t think people understand how tough it is for us to win every week.

“We play two times a week and have international players. Other teams can prepare for a week and we have to face a Cup Final every week.

“We have two and half days between games so it’s a very good performance to have seven wins, two draws and one defeat. That’s better than last season and we will now push on.”

One of those players heading off is Scotland forward Leigh Griffiths, the man who set up one and scorer another yesterday at New Douglas Park.

Speaking of his in-form striker whose goal came from a looping header, Deila added: “He’s small but his timing is fantastic. You see when the cross comes in he’s just hanging there. He can score all types of goals and he’s an important player for us.

“Yes – he can start for Scotland. He’s scored goals for us in Europe and he is a good option for Gordon [Strachan].”