Sir Alex Ferguson: CSKA Moscow's Plastic Pitch Is No Problem For Manchester United

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is unconcerned with the artificial playing surface in CSKA Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

The Red Devils travel to face the Russian outfit in the Champions League on Wednesday night, and Ferguson's previous experience of artificial pitches means that he is certain his players will cope.

"I have no issues with the pitch in Moscow. When Luton and QPR had them all those years ago we always played well on them," the Scotsman said, according to The Sporting Life.

"We had a great record at those artificial pitches and that was when the artificial pitches weren't as good.

"The one in Moscow has a far better covering on it.

"I watched CSKA's previous Champions League game and I didn't see any issue with it at all. It is a passing surface and we have good passers in our side."

Nevertheless, Ferguson expects a tough test in Russia, rendered even more difficult by the absence of five key players including Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher.

"They are a very young team and they deserved to win their game against Besiktas, so it should be a good game," Ferguson added.

"But we're in a strong position ourselves after winning our opening two games and, if we can navigate the back-to-back games against CSKA, we're through, I think.

"The Champions League for a few years now has had a tremendous amount of quality in it. I think the Russian teams in particular have improved a lot in the last few years thanks to big investment.

"There are a lot of Brazilian players in Russia now. So you can expect a difficult game there and it's a surface which we're not used to playing on."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com UK