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.
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.
Having aimed to arrive in Bristol in late morning, United arrived at 12.30pm and had to schedule another coach to take them there from Cardiff, as the team bus was in England.
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 had to make the journey across the Welsh-English border by road, adding more than an hour onto a journey which has not as gone as expected.
As of mid-afternoon the United team coach could be seen outside their hotel in Bristol – indicating that the extended journey from Old Trafford had finally come to an end.
Tottenham’s Premier League game against United at White Hart Lane in April 2016 was delayed by 30 minutes as the visitors’ team bus was stuck in traffic.
Many of United’s first choice players have made the journey, with manager Jose Mourinho refusing to gamble too 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.