Ange Postecoglou isn’t even going to pretend he isn’t taking the threat of Livingston’s plastic pitch seriously. 

With his sides famed for their slick pass and move style, the slow speed of the Tony Macaroni surface is a major obstacle. 

And the Aussie boss has explained the players will train on astroturf on Saturday in preparation ahead of the game. 

"It is a real thing - the pitch plays differently,” he said. “There is no point trying to ignore it. 

"I can tell the players to ignore it and play their normal game, but you do have to adjust. 

"It becomes a little bit of a different game on that surface and the players need to be prepared for that. But that doesn't mean it stops you from being successful. 

"You just have to adjust your game and your approach, so that it removes any negative impact the pitch has on our football. 

"We will address it. We have an artificial pitch at Lennoxtown and we will train on that on Saturday. 

"We will get the players an understanding of it again, but ultimately it's about the way we approach our football. 

"We don't always do it. It's more about how I feel. We are Wednesday-Sunday this week, so we have an extra day between games. This just gives the players a little bit more of a feeling for it. 

"Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't. It's not essential but there is no point telling the players to ignore the pitch. It's going to be there and players need to address that and adjust to it. 

"On an artificial pitch there are still fundamental principles of our game that we can do. What we didn't do at Livingston last time are those things. 

"We got bogged down in the disappointment that the game wasn't going our way, without looking for the solutions.”