Stoke 0 Manchester United 2: League Cup quarter-final postponed for 10 minutes after heavy rain and hail hits the Brittania Stadium

Players run for cover as the Potteries turns into a Winter Wonderland

The players run for cover after referee Mark Clattenberg postpones the League Cup quarter-final, although the Stoke City players don't appear to be in a rush as they want play to continue.

The League Cup quarter-final between Stoke City and Manchester United was barely 29 minutes old when the mother of all hailstorms hit the Brittania Stadium.

The age old question of “Lionel Messi may be the world’s best player, but can he do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke” has never been more appropriate, as the driving rain that welcomed the sides as they emerged from the tunnel soon turned into much heavier, painful chunks of ice.

When Danny Welbeck won a corner approaching the half-hour mark (we think, although by now visibility was at a bare minimum) referee Mark Clattenburg decided enough was enough and called a halt to the match.

The United player’s quickly obliged and sprinted towards the cover of the dug-out, but Stoke’s players were not happy in the slightest that the match had been stopped. Despite arguing with Clattenburg, the decision was made to take the players back to the changing room’s and let the whole thing blow over.

10 minutes later, play got back underway via the corner that Welbeck had won, and the players who by now had changed into much drier and clean shirts got on with the task at hand, with United running out 2-0 victors.