Owen warned over dangers of plastic pitch

Steve McClaren's side face their Euro 2008 qualifying rivals at the Luznikhi Stadium in Moscow next Wednesday in a match which seems likely to decide their fate in Group E.

Controversially, the crunch game is to be played on an artificial surface, and it was suggested earlier this week that the Russian Football Federation had refused to upgrade the pitch in a bid to maximise their team's advantage.

Birmingham striker Garry O'Connor played on the pitch regularly during his time with Lokomotiv Moscow, who call the Luznikhi home.

And he believes Owen, only recently returned from stomach and groin injuries, would be putting his health in jeopardy by playing there.

"If I was Michael Owen I would not want to risk anything on that pitch," he told The Sun.

"It used to hurt me for three or four days after I'd played on the it. I would really ache because it's just not a natural surface.

"It really messes with your body. So, if anyone is a doubt with a muscle injury, they could be in trouble."

The pitch also received a less than ringing endorsement from former Russia captain Alexei Smertin, who believes Russia will gain a massive advantage from it.

"We have a good opportunity to get some points because we're playing on the plastic pitch," the Fulham midfielder told the Daily Mirror.

"I've played on that pitch. What's it like? Rubbish. I played there two or three times last year with Dinamo Moscow, my previous team, and it's not so good, to be honest.

"It's quite dangerous because it's different - your feet stick and you can't turn quickly and you can't turn properly as you run.

"The ball does bounce a funny way and it depends, for example, if the pitch is slippery. Then the ball goes very quickly. If it's not, it's very slow."

England full-back Micah Richards has, however, attempted to play down the effect the pitch is likely to have on the match.

The squad will train at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College in Altrincham before flying out to Moscow, where there is a pitch made of identical material to that used at the Luznikhi.

"A lot of people have asked me how I am going to find playing on their artificial pitch but, to be honest, I don't know yet - although we will get to play on the same surface in Altrincham on Monday," Richards said in his column for BBC Online.

"It will make things trickier though. I have heard it is like Astroturf and when I used to play on that when I was younger it made a difference for things like slide tackles.

"But I am sure we will be all right. We may be used to playing on beautiful pitches week in, week out, but we have all played on a bad pitch before so we are just going to have to do it again."