Warriors Delay Game for United Visit to Jjb

Wigan Athletic are taking no chances with the state of their pitch when Manchester United visit the JJB Stadium aiming to seal the Premier League title on Sunday week. The town's rugby league club have agreed to a request from the football club's chairman, Dave Whelan, to put back their home Challenge Cup tie against Whitehaven from the Friday night before the match to the Monday after it, to avoid any further criticism of the playing surface for such a significant game.

"The last thing we want is a worldwide TV audience with the pitch having suffered from heavy rain, and Wigan rugby league club having played a game on there a couple of days prior to the football match," said Ian Lenagan, who bought Whelan's majority shareholding in the rugby club last winter. "We have been wrongly blamed for the poor state of the JJB Stadium pitch and I don't want Wigan's name, and rugby league's name, to attract wrongful criticism."

Whelan was keen to stress that rugby league had not contributed to the condition of a surface that Arsène Wenger described as "a disaster" after his Arsenal team drew 0-0 there in March. "It is disrespectful to the fans who pay money to watch football on that," said Wenger. "The only excuse is if they have a rugby team that also plays on the pitch, unless the groundsman is sick."

The pitch will be dug up and a new one laid this summer. But for the moment Whelan and Wigan are clearly keen to avoid a repeat of Sir Alex Ferguson's fury in 2001, when he blamed rugby league at Old Trafford for an FA Cup defeat against West Ham United.