SCOTT Brown said last night that artificial surfaces such as the one Scotland will experience at the LFF Arena in Vilnius on Friday night should be declared unfit to host international qualifying matches.
Failure to take all three points from the visit to Lithuania would kill off the national team's hopes to reach their first major finals since 1998 but Brown feels that Gordon Strachan's will have to triumph over the conditions as well as their Baltic opponents.
At least, coming hot on the heels of the Champions League qualifier in Kazakhstan, and sandwiched between Premiership visits to Kilmarnock and Hamilton, the national team's Celtic contingent should have plenty of experience on plastic pitches.
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“No, it shouldn't be allowed to host qualifiers," said the Scotland captain. "There are probably folk playing five-a-sides on it now.
"Over there, paying whatever they are paying. But you have to deal with it. They will be used to it more than us, but it has helped that we at Celtic have had a couple of games on Astro recently.
"That’ll stand us in good stead
"You get a lot of injuries on it, but it’s in the Scottish game now too," he added. "We’ll deal with what we have to deal with, but sadly we’ve the two Astroturfs here [Kilmarnock last week and Hamilton in a fortnight's time] and we have to go over there [Lithuania].
"That’s four Astroturfs in a couple of weeks and it’s not great for your body, but you have to deal with it.
"Astro affects everyone. It’s different for me compared to maybe other players. But it’s another game for me for Scotland and, hopefully, we can get a win to do the country proud.”
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Better news for Scotland was the sight of Stuart Armstrong slotting back into the space alongside Brown for the second half of Celtic's 1-1 draw against St Johnstone on Saturday, helping to provide the impetus which got the Parkhead side back into the game.
“Maybe he was affected [by his now-resolved contract dispute], but Stu’s a very intelligent boy," said Brown. "He wanted to stay here and he wants to play for Scotland. He showed his qualities in the second-half against St Johnstone.
"He brings the legs now and I just sit in and tell him where to run. It’s brilliant! Seriously, the more Scottish players we have playing for the national team, the better. Callum McGregor also came into the game and scored another terrific goal for us."
While Celtic, who dropped their first points of the season on Saturday with the 1-1 draw against St Johnstone, were the authors of their own downfall, Brown chimed with Brendan Rodgers' comments that the club's short passing style from the back was a risk worth taking - even if it sometimes causes panic amongst the fans.
“We play our game no matter what," he said. "It’s hard to listen to fans during the game because we are too busy being focused on keeping the ball down and trying to play attractive football.
"That’s what the teams do in European football and that’s what we’re going to find in the next weeks against top teams in the world. You don’t just kick it long and play the percentage game.
"That’s the old-style Scottish football and we’re trying to bring in a proper European culture."
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