• Champions League

Fernandinho blasts Moscow pitch

Manchester City secured their first away league win of the season at West Ham © Getty Images

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Fernandinho admits the poor pitch at Arena Khimki is a worry for Manchester City as they hope it does not have a major impact on their game against CSKA Moscow.

CSKA's last Champions League game, against Viktoria Plzen three weeks ago, was moved to St Petersburg because the Moscow pitch was deemed unplayable after torrential rain in Russia and there had been talk that Wednesday's match against City would have to be switched to another venue.

But although they are playing in Moscow, Manuel Pellegrini's team were not allowed to train at the Arena Khimki on Monday evening because of fears they might make the surface worse.

Midfielder Fernandinho said at the pre-match press conference: "I am worried about the pitch. If you don't have a good pitch it could be very hard for us. I am hoping it will be a good game but that depends on whether the pitch is good or not.

"Everybody has talked about the pitch being bad but I don't know. We will see when we train there. If the pitch is bad we may have to fight to win the game but that is no different to any other game - it is always a fight to win."

City were beaten 3-1 at home by Bayern Munich in their last European game and Fernandinho is adamant they need three points against CSKA on Tuesday.

He added: "We have to go for the win. We can't think about the draw - we need to go there to win. This is all about six points because we play CSKA back-to-back. We must win there, and if we do that and then beat them at home, we will take a big step towards qualification."

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