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Belfast Live
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Sport
Gareth Fullerton

Michael O'Neill offers blunt response to Windsor Park 'going artificial'

Michael O'Neill doesn't foresee Windsor Park's pitch going artificial anytime soon.

The current state of the playing surface at the international stadium has come in for plenty of criticism in recent weeks.

Linfield boss David Healy slated the surface as "atrocious" following his side's Irish Cup win over Warrenpoint Town back in January, while BBC Sport NI commentator Joel Taggart labelled it as "brutal" during the Blues' league game with Cliftonville last month.

Read more: 'I believe I am a better manager, but others will decide on that' - O'Neill

Taggart said at the time: "I can't believe there is going to be a European Championship qualifier played on this pitch next month. They need a miracle worker between now and then.

""If Michael O'Neill turns up and sees a pitch anything like this condition, he will have a canary."

Northern Ireland host Finland at Windsor on March 26, the second of two back-to-back European qualifiers at the end of the month.

When asked about the condition of the pitch on Tuesday, O'Neill offered a balanced response, but gave a blunt reply when the idea of an artificial surface was raised.

“No, I don’t think we will be going artificial," he smiled.

“The pitch is the pitch and I can’t change that, like the weather, I’m not in control of it. The playing surfaces are always challenged and let’s be honest, that pitch is used a lot.

“When you look at how that pitch is used against a Premier League or Championship playing surface, it is used a lot more and the maintenance of the pitch is challenging.

“We won’t play on perfect pitches in Kazakhstan or San Marino. I’m not getting too concerned about the pitch at this moment in time.”

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