Manchester United return to the scene of their 2008 UEFA Champions League triumph - the Luzhniki Stadium - on Wednesday night with qualification from Group B in their sights.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side are looking for their third successive victory after hard fought wins against Besiktas away and Wolfsburg at home earlier in the campaign.

Injury-hit United are in for a tough night in the Russian capital however, on an artificial pitch and against a rejuvenated CSKA under the leadership of former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos.

However, Sir Alex does not believe the plastic surface will be a problem, after several scouting missions to the in recent weeks.

"It is a passing surface and we have good passers in our side," Sir Alex told BBC Sport.

"I watched CSKA's last European game. I didn't see any issue with the pitch."

The Red Devils have the ability to grind out results and despite an early loss to Burnley and a 2-2 draw with Sunderland, United have won every other match this season at home and abroad.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side produced a nervy display to defeat Bolton 2-1 at the weekend and will have one eye on Sunday’s game against struggling rivals Liverpool.

CSKA have not been at their best domestically and face a battle to qualify for Europe next year, with four games left of the Russian season, Ramos' side are battling it out with Zenit St Petersburg for third place.

However, The Army Men have lost just once in their last six games and Ramos will be looking to mastermind another famous European victory which he built his reputation on at Sevilla.

Having lost to German side Wolfsburg on matchday one, CSKA recovered to defeat Turkish side Besiktas 2-1 last time round.

Team News:

CSKA have no major injury concerns ahead of the visit of the English champions, with Russian defender Vasily Berezutskiy having recovered from a recent illness and should start.

Reported United target Igor Akinfeev looks set to start in goal despite sitting out recent training sessions as a precaution.

Sir Alex Ferguson travels to Russia without a host of first team players, in particular England striker and top scorer Wayne Rooney, who is still recovering from a calf injury sustained on international duty.

The evergreen Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra, Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher all failed to make the long-haul flight and stayed behind at United’s training ground.

Despite minor injuries to Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov, both players should be fit to start.

Probable Starting XIs (*Star man):

CSKA Moscow (4-4-1-1): Akinfeev; Semberas, A Berezutskiy, Ignashevich, V Berezutskiy; Krasic, Aldonin, Mamaev, Schennikov; Dzagoev*; Necid.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea; Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, Nani; Owen, Berbatov*

ExtraFootie Prediction: CSKA Moscow 1 - 1 Manchester United - A closely fought game should end in a draw with United's players keeping one eye on their encounter with Rafael Benitez’s side, just four days away.

CSKA are much improved under Ramos and the away side will find it difficult to beat star keeper Akinfeev and must watch the highly-rated Alan Dzagoev, who can cause problems if given the space.

Fancy a Flutter? Paddy Power offer 11/1 for Dzagoev to open the scoring, while you can back United to win 2-1 at 15/2.