Russia refused pitch upgrade

The Russian Football Federation have refused to upgrade the playing surface that England will be playing on in Moscow. England and Russia meet at the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium on October 17 as the two sides battle for 2nd spot.

The pitch was laid by Fieldturf who, according to company spokesman Michael Davis, had also been asked by the RFF to upgrade it before next week's clash.

"After the defeat, they said that they will play on the existing surface," Davis told BBC's Inside Sport programme. "The Russians had agreed there would be a new surface but the result at Wembley changed that."

He added: "Some of the Russian players will have played on that surface before, knowing that the England players haven't. Put a brand new surface in and it's a level playing field, nobody's played on it."