Manchester United manager José Mourinho has stated his concerns in his pre-match press conference over the state of FC Rostov's pitch ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash.

Hard to believe

United will be looking to not only look to book a place in the last eight of the Europa League, but will look to return to winning ways in Russia after Saturday's frustrating 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth.

The clash will be taking place at the Olimp-2 Stadium, but there have been many concerns over the state of the field with the conditions looking threadbare in terms of the surface.

Mourinho believed that it looked similar to the conditions of the Beijing surface where the abandoned pre-season clash with Manchester City was supposed to take place, and he shared his concerns over the state of the Russian surface.

"It is still hard for me to believe that we are going to play tomorrow on that field," Mourinho explained, before adding, "If you can call it a field."

"I didn’t have any contact with anyone until now," he confirmed to his pre-match press conference. "I just had a quick contact with one gentleman from UEFA, when I was looking at the pitch."

"When I told him about my concerns," the coach revealed, "The gentleman told me the players are insured; if something happens, no problem."

Will be a tough test

Many will have expected that it would be an easy passage for United, as they managed to dodge most of Europe's elite in the last 16 draw.

However, Rostov will certainly be no pushover, finishing third in a Champions League group consisting of Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and PSV.

That group included a famous 3-2 victory over the Bundesliga giants, and Mourinho reiterated that they will be up against a formidable opponent.

"I analysed their previous matches," he said. "Against Bayern, Ajax and Atletico Madrid."

"In those matches, it looked a very playable pitch," the 54-year-old stressed. "I was very surprised with what I found here today."

"I know they are dangerous," Mourinho admitted. "They defend with 10 players, with everyone in front of their goal."

"Then they are very dangerous on the counter-attack," he concluded. "And all their attacking players are good players."