Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea addresses concerns over FC Sheriff pitch

David de Gea insists he and his Manchester United colleagues have no concerns over the state of the pitch as they prepare to face FC Sheriff.

United head into unchartered territory when they face the Moldovan champions. The fixture is taking place in the country's capital of Chisinau rather than Sheriff's base of Transnistria. That is after UEFA made the decision that matches in their competitions should not be staged there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

As such, the Europa League match will now be staged at the 10,400-capacity Zimbru Stadium. Despite some concerns over the state of the pitch, United stopper De Gea insists he and his colleagues have no worries having examined it at close quarters.

Read more: Ten Hag explains why he gave his backing to De Gea

Speaking to United's in-house media, the Spaniard said: "To be honest, we saw some videos and I was thinking maybe the pitch was going to be really bad but I've been there and I think it's a great pitch. It's perfect to play on and a nice stadium, perfect to play in. As I said before, I cannot wait to play here.

"It's my first time in Moldova so it's going to be a tough game for us. They are a very direct team, a very physically strong team, so it's going to be 100 per cent a difficult game. If we play our game, if we play good and play in our way, then we will have a big chance to win the game, for sure. Of course, after a defeat, now we have the second game of the group and we have to try to win and show again our qualities, the good things we've been doing in the Premier League."

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