Owen warned over plastic pitch peril

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

He added: "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."