Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic owner, was so concerned about the potential for embarrassment caused by the state of the pitch at the JJB Stadium this weekend that he ordered Wigan Warriors rugby league team to move their cup match against Whitehaven from Friday to Monday.

Whelan, who enjoys a close friendship with Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, is keen to avoid causing any more wear and tear to the pitch before the title-deciding match at home to United on Sunday that will be watched around the world.

The move is likely to have pleased Ferguson, who blamed his side's FA Cup defeat by West Ham United in 2001 on damage done to Old Trafford's pitch by two teams of rugby league players, claiming: “I can't believe that the biggest club in the world has to stage bloody rugby. It's an utter disgrace.”

United's reputation for squabbling with groundsmen is unlikely to be increased away to Wigan, despite having to win the Barclays Premier League title on a pitch described as “a disaster” by Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, this season.

Even Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, has conceded that the surface at the JJB Stadium is the worst in the Premier League and it will be relaid at a cost of £600,000 this summer. Wigan have not lost at home since the turn of the year and while the pitch is far from perfect, it is a significant improvement on the bog it was at the turn of the year and is not a potential excuse for Ferguson, although his team have had hard times on suspect pitches in the past.

Burton Albion, of the Conference, covered their pitch in sand and earned a goalless draw against United in 2006, while Hereford United were beaten on what Ferguson described as a “pudding of a pitch” on their way to winning the FA Cup in 1990.

United have won their previous six meetings with Wigan, including victories in their two visits to the JJB Stadium, but Bruce, a former United player who helped his old team's cause with a 1-1 draw away to Chelsea last month, has every reason to hope to end that record. With his team thirteenth in the table, they could earn £6.4million in prize-money if they move up to twelfth.

Chelsea's players, not least John Terry, have tried to take a leaf from Ferguson's book by using reverse psychology in an attempt to motivate Wigan, but Ryan Giggs, United's longest-serving player and a former team-mate of Bruce, knows that it will be anything but straightforward at the JJB Stadium.

“It's going to be a tough game,” the 34-year-old said. “Wigan have got some decent players. They showed that when they played Chelsea and got a draw. It's in our hands, which is all you can ask for. We've got to be professional and do our job.”