Spain and Croatia training hit by pitch concerns

Spain and Croatia’s training plans ahead of their Euro 2016 Group D clash have been thrown up in the air due to concerns over the pitch at the Stade de Bordeaux.

Both sides had been due to train at the Euro 2016 venue on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s fixture, but will have to travel around 30 minutes to the Stade Chaban Delmas, before returning to the match stadium for news conferences.

A statement from Croatia’s football association confirmed that the switch was brought on “due to a poor pitch condition in Bordeaux”.

Romania and Albania saw their training sessions in Lyon switched this week with UEFA attempting to preserve the Parc Olympique Lyonnais pitch after a hailstorm.

Bordeaux has been hit with heavy rain in the week, and it appears Europe’s governing body are once again looking to keep the pitch in as best shape as possible, with France’s fixture against Switzerland played out on a cut-up pitch in Lille on Sunday.

Ireland and Italy will not train on the Stade Pierre-Mauroy pitch in Lille before their Group E concluder, but assistant manager Roy Keane was typically dismissive of the move’s importance.

He said: “I’m not too concerned. Maybe some of the players would like to get a feel for the pitch, we’ve done that previously we’ve not trained on the surface. We’ve got enough about us, we’ll be alright on the night.”