Celtic Park's new £1.5m pitch has been struck down by a "slight disease", says manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Scottish champions completed the installation of the hybrid surface in the summer after starting the project a year earlier.

However, during Saturday's 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Airdrieonians the pitch appeared to already be showing signs of wear and tear.

"It's just something unfortunate for the ground staff," said Rodgers.

"Nothing that they could have done. It has a slight disease in the surface, which has just been unfortunate really.

"We obviously had a new pitch laid over the course of the last year, which has really helped our game. The guys are working really hard to make that right.

"It's difficult when you have a spell of games on it. But I'm sure it will get back to the level we would hope it would be at. These are natural things that just take a little bit of time."

Speaking in July, Rodgers insisted the new pitch would take Celtic's game to a "different level" as they installed the hybrid surface, which is a mixture of natural grass and artificial fibres.

"I've been crying about a pitch for a long time and you see the speed of it and it'll get slightly quicker as well," said the Celtic manager.

"It was a big investment by the club, but they'll get their rewards, the players get their rewards and most importantly the spectators get their rewards."