United boss Sir Alex Ferguson won't panic about playing on a plastic pitch

20 October 2009 11:08
Sir Alex Ferguson is confident his Manchester United players will not have any problems with the plastic pitch when they face CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night. Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko complained after leaving the Luzhniki Stadium following Russia's defeat to Germany just over a week ago. He said: 'It seems I have lost the habit of playing on synthetics - the pains in my muscles told me that after the match.' But Ferguson, looking for a victory to put United within touching distance of the last 16 in the Champions League, said: 'CSKA are a young side who know what they are doing and have one win behind them already. 'Also, their home advantage means more than usual because they play on an artificial plastic surface. I don't have a problem with that, though, because we can cope and I am looking to our back-to-back games against CSKA to take us to 10 points and a place in the knockout stages.' Stats Zone The stadium was the scene of United's Champions League triumph over Chelsea last year, although on that occasion the match was on grass. Michael Carrick played in the shootout victory - 12 months before experiencing one of his lowest moments in football. The United midfielder said: 'Moscow was the best day of my career but I do take more from the losses and the negatives. They are the things that spur me on. 'It is great when you are winning leagues and being successful but losing to Barcelona in last season's final in Rome will haunt us for a long time.'

Source: Daily_Mail