Zenit St Petersburg hope their worn-out pitch will help them reach a first European final by upsetting favourites Bayern Munich in the return leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final.

After last week's 1-1 first leg draw in Munich, Zenit coach Dick Advocaat said the uneven surface at the Petrovsky stadium should favour the home side.

"The pitch is the same for both teams, but at least we have been accustomed to playing on it, so this should give us some advantage," the Dutchman told Russian media.

Zenit's pitch has been in such bad condition since the start of the Russian season in March that league officials considered banning the stadium for domestic matches.

The league agreed to give the Petrovsky a reprieve after stadium officials promissed major repairs in the near future.

The Russian champions were fortunate to return from Munich with a 1-1 draw after Bayern's Brazil defender Lucio inadvertently deflected the equaliser into his own goal, giving Zenit a real chance to advance on aggregate.

Zenit will be without Russia's Andrei Arshavin, Czech winger Radek Sirl and Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen after they picked up yellow cards last time out to earn one-game bans.

The absence of the influential playmaker Arshavin, voted Russia's best player last year will be felt the most.

Advocaat, who hopes Russia defender Alexander Anyukov will be fit after a foot injury kept him out of the first leg, was confident his team would not miss the key trio.

"No one is irreplaceable. Other players will have to step in to get the job done," the coach said.

Bayern moved to within a whisker of clinching their 21st Bundesliga title with a 4-1 win over champions VfB Stuttgart on Sunday, but have immediately turned their attention to Zenit.

"It's not time to party. We have a very important game on Thursday and we have to concentrate on that," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said after the victory.

Midfielder Mark van Bommel added: "All eyes and minds are concentrating on Thursday and not on the Bundesliga title."

The Germans welcome towering striker Luca Toni back from suspension.

The Italian is the competition's top scorer with 10 goals and leads the Bundesliga scoring charts with 21.

Club captain Oliver Kahn and defender Philipp Lahm missed out against Stuttgart but returned to training on Monday, leaving Hitzfeld with a near full strength squad available.

Reuters