Blokhin lacking Ukraine stars

Ukraine's hopes of overcoming UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying Group B rivals France have been hampered by the absence of a number of top players as coach Oleh Blokhin named a squad lacking in match sharpness.

Significant absentees
Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov and Artem Milevskiy are all ruled out of the 2 June fixture in Paris and although Olexiy Gay does return after a lengthy lay-off, Ukraine will have to rely on some rusty players. "My biggest worry is that some of our candidates are lacking match practice at their respective clubs, mostly sitting on substitutes' bench," said Blokhin. The 21-man squad includes five players apiece from FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk with only four players plying their trade outside Ukraine.

Ukraine squad
Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov (FC Vorskla Poltava), Olexandr Shovkovskiy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Maxym Startsev (FC Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk).

Defenders: Andriy Nesmachniy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Dmytro Chygrynskiy (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Olexandr Kucher (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Rusol (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Volodymyr Yezerskiy (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Vyacheslav Sviderskiy (FC Chornomorets Odesa).

Midfielders: Oleh Gusev (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Ruslan Rotan (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Taras Mikhalik (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Olexiy Gay (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Maxym Kalynychenko (FC Spartak Moskva), Evgen Levchenko (FC Groningen), Anatoliy Tymoschuk (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Serhiy Nazarenko (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Oleh Shelayev (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Forwards: Olexiy Bielik (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Vorobey (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Voronin (Bayer 04 Leverkusen).