Manchester United’s preparations for their Carabao Cup quarter final against Bristol City have been disrupted after their private jet had to be diverted to Cardiff due to fog.
United made the unusual decision to travel to the game on the morning of the match, Wednesday, rather than make the 140-mile trip to the South West the night before.
This decision has backfired on them, after poor conditions over Bristol caused the private jet they were travelling in to have to land at Cardiff airport instead.
Manchester United’s preparations for their Carabao Cup quarter final have been disrupted after their jet had to be diverted
Poor conditions over Bristol caused the private jet they were travelling in to have to land at Cardiff airport instead
Plane tracking websites showed the landing time had been annulled and the flight distance was much longer than usual
Sportsmail understands the plane arrived on time in the Welsh capital, however the detour meant the plane landed more than 40 miles away from its intended destination.
The plane can be seen, via airline tracking website Flightradar, to have circled Bristol several times before moving away, unable to land because of the weather conditions.
United will have to make the journey across the Welsh-English border by either road or boat, adding more than an hour onto a journey which has not as gone as expected.
Jose Mourinho had brought senior players for the cup game, with major stars such as Paul Pogba seen flying to Bristol
United look likely to play the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, all of who were on the plane as it was held and diverted in the air
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is among those expected to start at Ashton Gate after falling out of favour this season
The disruption is hugely inconvenient for United, who will have wanted to arrive at their destination by early afternoon in order to prepare for a tricky cup quarter final.
Many of United’s first choice players have made they journey, with manager Jose Mourinho refusing to gamble to readily against Championship opponents.
These included Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, showing how United are not under-estimating an opponent deep in the race for promotion to the Premier League.
(L to R): Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford climb the steps to board the plane at Manchester airport
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is among those expected to start at Ashton Gate after falling out of favour this season, while Luke Shaw and Axel Tuanzebe were also among those seen climbing the airport steps on Wednesday morning.
Manchester United won the League Cup under Mourinho last season, who views the trophy as a great chance of winning silverware, as well as the need to keep up with rivals City.
On Tuesday night, Pep Guardiola’s men continued their quest for the quadruple, winning their Carabao Cup semi final away to Leicester City on penalties.