PLASTIC SMILE

Light Blues can't wait to see back of Killie's pitch

- ANDY NEWPORT

UNLESS Kilmarnock get their stuttering season going, this weekend's trip down the M77 offers a tantalising prospect for Rangers - an end at last to their plastic pain.

After 11 years, Killie chiefs are to rip up their astroturf pitch at the end of the season and reinstall a grass surface at Rugby Park. And for Gers it can't come soon enough.

While Celtic have enjoyed some memorable, freescoring afternoons on the 4G, Rangers have never quite found it so easy to tread.

Since the plastic pitch was installed in summer 2014, Gers have managed just six wins from their 14 visits.

The other results have been a series of frustrating encounters as well-drilled Killie outfits have obstinately refused to budge from their stubborn shapes.

Bosses Lee Clark, Steve Clarke and now Derek McInnes have come up with game plans that have made the most of their artificial surface's strange spins and befuddling bounces to bewilder the Ibrox players.

Yet those cautious tactics have never quite had the same impact on Celtic.