The construction of the Samara World Cup stadium is behind schedule, according to FIFA. Getty

FIFA says the World Cup stadium in the Russian city of Samara requires "a huge amount of work" to be ready on time.

With less than three months to go until the World Cup, the 45,000-seat Samara Arena is the only one of 12 stadiums which doesn't yet have a field installed. Cold weather in the Russian spring is holding up the installation.

FIFA chief competitions official Colin Smith said "obviously we would expect further progress than this," adding that "there's a huge amount of work still to be done" for the stadium to be completed by the end of April.

If that date passes, it could restrict FIFA's ability to test the stadium and install World Cup equipment.

Alexander Fetisov, the vice-governor of the Samara region, told Russian news agency Tass that the city administration is fully prepared to work to minimise the delay.

"We have a lot of work ahead, we are ready for it, we want to help the organisers.

"Last week we conducted a test launch on the city's tram link, and we are refurbishing the main roads. The World Cup is an important legacy for us and we will do everything to meet our guests with typical Samara cordiality."