McIntyre, who managed Queen of the South for just over a year on an artificial pitch, said:  "It's a different surface. I found it fine but I don't think it should be allowed at the top level.

"I can understand clubs at lower levels putting that in because obviously the revenue it brings, you can rent it out and (it) gives you extra money. But I think at the top level there's enough revenue for grass pitches.

"My big gripe about plastic pitches is they are all different. Kilmarnock's is totally different to Livingston's. Having been to Falkirk several times and Queen of the South this year, they are all completely different.

"If it's going to be allowed it should be the same spec everywhere."

McIntyre accepts there are no conclusive studies showing artificial pitches cause more injuries but he believes anecdotal evidence should be taken into account.

"People ask you whether you are going to train on a plastic pitch leading up to playing on it," he said.

"I wouldn't train on it the whole week because my players aren't used to training on it the whole week, and I know there's a difference to how their bodies feel on a grass pitch.

"At Queen of the South we had to monitor our training times, because it's harder on the body.

"I wasn't a fan of it as a player and I'm still not a fan of it, but I can understand why clubs at a lower level have them."

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