No turf love as Keane sounds plastic pitch warning

ROBBIE KEANE will be hoping his experience of playing on an artificial pitch today will be a happier one than the last time he stepped out on astroturf.

In August last year Spurs found themselves 3-0 down at the break away to Young Boys Bern in the Champions League, with manager Harry Redknapp later admitting he had a “nasty feeling” going into the game having watched his players struggle on the Swiss team’s artificial turf in training.

Indeed, he revealed that one of the reasons he’d left Keane on the bench at the start — the striker came on in a second half during which Spurs managed two goals in reply — was because the Irish captain was carrying a knock to the knee and hadn’t looked comfortable on the controversial surface in training.