RANGERS manager Mark Warburton insists the tactics used by Graeme Souness to defeat Dynamo Kiev back in 1987 have nothing to do with his claim that Alloa should not have been allowed to change the dimensions of their plastic pitch mid-season.

Warburton is bemused by the fact that the Wasps manager Jack Ross was permitted to bring in the touchline on either side at the Indodrill Stadium by around five yards after arriving at the club in December.

He has urged his managing director Stewart Robertson to push the SPFL to implement new rules which state pitches should remain the same size for the entire campaign.

However, Souness famously allowed Kiev, leading 1-0 from the first leg of a tight European Cup tie, to train on the Ibrox pitch ahead of the second leg before reducing it to the minimum dimensions for the match itself.

His side went on to record a famous 2-0 victory through goals from Mark Falco and Ally McCoist, but Warburton insists he would never use those tactics and says they have nothing to do with the standards which should be expected in the modern game.

“I wasn’t part of Rangers and I would never personally do it,” he said. “That’s not criticism of Graeme [Souness], but what happened was 30 years ago.

“Every time I mention this pitch, someone throws Dynamo Kiev at me.

“I understand why, because, if you aren’t a Rangers fan, you’re going to throw that straight back, but it’s a completely different era now.

“The whole game in the last 10 years has changed dramatically. My point is that it’s about changing something mid-season. Can you imagine mid-season the goals get five feet wider or four feet higher? I sure I’m not alone in these sentiments.

“We got an email saying the pitch has changed by 30 plus feet. It was sent a few weeks ago. My immediate reaction was: ‘How does that happen? What’s the consultation process?”

Warburton believes clubs should state the size of their pitch at the start of the season and be held to that.

“That’s how I would see it and that’s how every football club has always worked,” he said. “That’s our pitch for the season and you do it.”

Warburton has also revealed he is against artificial surfaces at senior level as a result of the negative impact their presence has on the reputation of top-level football and the concerns expressed by PFA Scotland this week over potential long-term damage they could inflict on players.

“I’m a grass man in terms of playing surface,” he said.

“We don’t know enough about the long-term impact on players. Where are they going to be in 10 to 15 years time in terms of their joints?

“The last time we played a game, Rob Kiernan and Danny Wilson had serious abrasions that stopped them training for two or three days, but it’s the long term wear on the joints where there’s a big question.

“To move to more artificial surfaces is a mistake.

“It’s the future financially, but I can’t see Premier League or Championship teams down south going to artificial surfaces.

“You’ve got to get investment into the Scottish market.

“You have to find a way of improving the overall product and I don’t think you are going to get investment in the game if you are playing on inconsistent artificial surfaces.”