You're already moaning and you've not even lost - Russian chief blasts 'whimpering' England

Even though the surface forced one of Russia's key players out of the game through injury on Monday, Russian Football Union president Vitaly Mutko was dismissive of English worries, saying: 'Why do they make such a fuss about it in England? It's a good pitch. Bayern, Inter and Celtic played good football on it. The English should just play on it and stop whimpering.'

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Real smoothie: England keeper Paul Robinson trains on plastic in Altrincham wearing long shorts

Despite Mutko's attempt to reassure their opponents, Celtic boss Gordon Strachan revealed he had complained about the Luzhniki Stadium pitch after his side's 1-1 draw against Spartak Moscow in August.

Strachan said: 'They watered the pitch to make it far slicker than we expected. It certainly wasn't the pitch we trained on and it caught us out for the first 20 minutes. The players couldn't even keep their feet to start with.'

It emerged last night that FC Nurnberg striker Ivan Saenko has withdrawn from the Russian party after aggravating an injury while training on the controversial surface.

He said: 'It was that artificial pitch. I realised I wouldn't be able to play my best on it and that I wouldn't be safe.'

The Russians conceded yesterday that Saenko is out and that the pitch had played its part. Team spokesman Ilya Kazakov said: 'After training on the Luzhniki pitch, Ivan Saenko aggravated his previous injury and had to go back to Germany for treatment.'

Saenko's absence is a blow for Russia, as is that of Vladimir Bystrov, the right-sided midfielder who terrorised Ashley Cole after coming on as a substitute in England's 3-0 win at Wembley last month.

But England coach Steve McClaren, not to mention half-a-dozen Premiership managers, will be concerned to learn that the pitch has a habit of troubling players with recent injuries, especially given fitness concerns over John Terry and Michael Owen.

Last night, other members of Guus Hiddink's squad were scoffing at English fears. Striker Alexander Kerzhakov said: 'The controversy over the surface is just an excuse invented by the English.

'In the modern age, players need to be prepared to play on any kind of surface. The English should stop protesting and just be prepared to come here and play football.'

England arrived in Moscow on Monday night to be greeted by freezing temperatures and snow and, despite having prepared for the game by training on a plastic pitch in Altrincham this week, they face a major mental and physical test.

Kerzhakov added: 'If we win against England then it paves the way for qualification, so for us it is impossible to think that we will fail.

'This is like the final of the World Cup for us and I believe the help of our supporters will be crucial. It is incredibly hard for opponents to win here because in this stadium the atmosphere will be sensational.'