Pussy Riot's much-anticipated court appeal stalls after band member Yekaterina Samutsevich dumps her legal counsel.

On Monday, Samutsevich requested the Moscow court allow her time to bring on another lawyer.

She and two other members of the activist group are appealing a two-year jail term handed down in August.

The members were arrested and charged with "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" after holding an impromptu rock concert in the capital's main cathedral.

The band says the concert's purpose was to expose the close ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and Vladimir Putin.

Outside the courtroom, Pyotr Verzilov, who is married to one of the band members, said the women are in good spirits, despite the fact the court is unlikely to set them free.

Their earlier trial garnered international fame, with Western governments, global celebrities and Russian rights advocates condemning the jail sentences.

But a recent poll shows more than half of Russians feel that women's prison sentences were fair.