O´Neill backs Fergie Wembley attack after Owen blow

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill added his voice on Friday to the mounting criticism of Wembley’s playing surface after Sir Alex Ferguson blamed the pitch for the injury to striker Michael Owen.

O’Neill, whose side were beaten by Ferguson’s team in the League Cup final last weekend, said: “It looked like a rock concert had been held on it the night before.”

“It is very poor for a national stadium. There is really no excuse for it. The stadium costs 800 million pounds (750 million euros, 1 billion dollars) to sort out and the one thing you’d think they’d get right would be the playing surface.

“I don’t know what the reason for it was but, considering it was a showpiece final, it was in very poor condition,” O’Neill said.

Manchester United manager Ferguson claimed earlier on Friday that the sticky surface had “something to do” with the hamstring injury that ruled Owen out for the rest of the season.

The turf has also been blamed for the slip by England defender Matthew Upson which allowed Egypt to take the lead in their 3-1 friendly defeat on Wednesday.