
Manchester United's preparations for their Carabao Cup quarter final against Bristol City were 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 backfired on them after poor conditions over Bristol caused the private jet they were travelling in to have to land at Cardiff airport instead - and they went on to lose the game 2-1.

Manchester United's preparations for their Carabao Cup quarter final were 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.

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 did not go 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.

Jose Mourinho had brought senior players for the cup game, with major stars such as Paul Pogba seen flying to Bristol

United played the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic (above), who was on the plane as it was held and diverted in the air

Henrikh Mkhitaryan came off the bench in the defeat at Ashton Gate after falling out of favour this season

UNITED'S OTHER TRAVEL NIGHTMARES 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. A month later, United's game at West Ham was put back by 45 minutes after fans blocked the team bus' path and threw bottles and other missiles. Advertisement

The disruption was hugely inconvenient for United, who will have wanted to arrive at their destination by early afternoon in order to prepare for the tricky cup quarter final.

It echoes disruption suffered by United when travelling to games in recent years, particularly fixtures away to West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur after they were delayed traveling to the grounds.

Many of United's first choice players 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 were not under-estimating an opponent deep in the race for promotion to the Premier League.