Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has criticised UEFA for scheduling his side's final Europa League group game in the icy conditions of Ukraine.
United go into Thursday night's meeting with Zorya Luhansk knowing that a point will be enough to guarantee their place in the knockout stages of the competition, while Zorya are already out.
However, the pitch at the Chornomorets Stadium is currently frozen in places and patchy in others, and Mourinho is unhappy with the tournament's governing body for allowing the match to be played so late in the year.
"The pitch is very hard, the pitch is very icy. Called off the game? I think UEFA know the conditions of the pitch and everybody knows that in mid-December the conditions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe are more difficult," he told reporters.
"So if UEFA was worried about it, they should change the fixtures and not allow the last fixtures to be played in mid-December. If the fifth fixture is the last fixture here, it would be the end of November and not mid-December, so I think that's the problem.
"I think the stadium is beautiful, it's new, it's well taken care of. The pitch is the same. They are trying, they are putting some warmth on the top of it, but the pitch is very difficult and people cannot make miracles. Let's hope everything goes well."
United could still win their group if they better Fenerbahce's result against Feyenoord, although defeat coupled with a Feyenoord win would send them crashing out of the competition.
Barney Corkhill
