United's clash with Zorya to go ahead

Manchester United's Europa League clash against Zorya Luhansk is expected to get the green light despite concerns over the pitch.

United need a point to progress to the knockout stages of the competition but a loss would be enough if Feyenoord fail to win their match against Fenerbahce.

The Chornomorets Stadium pitch was frozen in places on Wednesday evening but the game was given a go ahead following a pitch inspection on Thursday morning.

While temperatures are expected to rise over the course of the day, officials are expected to take another look at the playing surface before the kick-off when temperatures are due to fall.

“Everything depends on the weather,” a Zorya official said on Thursday morning.

"The pitch is not brilliant at the moment but we're expecting temperatures of 2 or 3 degrees centigrade.

"Everything should be ok."

United manager Jose Mourinho has questioned why the game was not played earlier in the competition.

"The pitch is very hard, the pitch is very icy," Mourinho said after his players trained on Wednesday evening.

"They are putting warmth on the top of it, but the pitch is very difficult and people cannot make miracles. Let's hope everything goes well.

"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.

"So if UEFA was worried about it, they should change the fixtures and not allow the last fixtures to be played there in mid-December."

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