Sunday 8 April 2018 15:52, UK
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers blamed Hamilton's synthetic pitch for his side's poor showing against 10 men, despite running out 2-1 winners.
The Bhoys enjoyed more than 70 per cent of possession at New Douglas Park, but were far from their best against Martin Canning's side, and rarely looked like adding to their two goals against a side batting relegation.
Accies also had to play more than half the game with 10 men following Darren Lyon's first-half red card, with Celtic's inability to press home their advantage down to the 3G pitch in the mind of Rodgers.
"It was important to win today and we're nearly there in the league now," he said. "I always say on the AstroTurf pitches it's very, very difficult to get fast flowing football."
Leigh Griffiths scored his 97th goal in Celtic colours as an injury-hit season saw a chink of light, with his second-half winner emerging only 57 seconds after he was introduced as a half-time sub.
"There's disappointment that he has been out for periods of my time here," added Rodgers. "But that's what he does best."
Celtic's next task is a trip to Hampden Park to take on Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final, as they chase a second consecutive domestic treble under Rodgers.
"We need to get ready for next week. We'll have a good week's training and recover after three difficult games this week," he said.
"We've always been excellent at Hampden so hopefully we can do that again, but it'll be a tough game."
