Celtic manager Postecoglou spurns chance to train on Bodo/Glimt's artificial pitch

Ange Postecoglou passed up the chance for Celtic to train on Bodo/Glimt's artificial pitch ahead of their Europa Conference League clash on Thursday.

The Hoops were beaten 3-1 by the Norwegian champions in the first leg of their knockout round clash at Parkhead last week.

Celtic will try to turn the tie around at the Aspmyra Stadion, which is inside the Arctic Circle and holds around 5,500 fans, but Postecoglou will forego the opportunity for a training session there beforehand.

"Here in Scotland we obviously have exposure to artificial pitches, we have already had two games this year on an artificial pitch so there is not a great deal to be gained," said the former Australia boss, who has no injury worries from the 3-2 win over Dundee on Sunday, although Yosuke Ideguchi is ineligible.

"Every week has a different challenge. If you are expecting that after one session you are going to find some miracle on an artificial pitch that you haven't thought about, that is going to win you the game, then you fall into the wrong trap.

"I have been involved in football for a long time, especially at national team level but even in Australia, where you have to deal with extreme climatic conditions, extreme pitch conditions.

"When I was with the national team we were travelling from cold climates to the Middle East in literally 24 hours, bumpy pitches to slow pitches, and what I found in the end is that the best approach is to make sure that your players are always prepared to deal with whatever challenges there are.

"There [are] no easy solutions. Us flying there today and having a session on their pitch is going to make absolutely zero difference.

"Us being here, getting a good training session with the boys, getting them prepared