Dovalil sizes up Czech Republic task

Jakub Dovalil does not hide the fact he was not a happy man when his Czech Republic side were drawn with England, Spain and Ukraine in Group B at this summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

"The first minutes were a bit tough," he admitted of his immediate reaction to discovering the task facing his team in Denmark. The Czechs were unbeaten in qualifying, winning nine out of ten matches and knocking out the holders Germany, but Dovalil believes they will now have to raise their game again.

"We qualified as the best European team, but that is in the past now," said Dovalil, who continues his preparations for Denmark with his side's friendly in the Netherlands on Wednesday. "We must look forward, and our ambition is to qualify for the semis," he told UEFA.com. "It will be difficult, as we are in a tougher group than Group A, but I think we will make it."

England coach Stuart Pearce has described the Czechs as favourites to win the June tournament but the 36-year-old Dovalil, conversely, considers that "Spain and England are stronger". Despite Dovalil downplaying his team's prospects, it is easy to find reasons why the Czechs are highly rated.

Exhibit A is the elimination of a Germany side whom they defeated 2-1 in Wiesbaden in September 2009, then held 1-1 at home 12 months later. "[Winning in Germany] was a surprise for us, but I must say we performed really well. Then at home we got a draw but didn't play well; we were lucky. Of course for us it was nice to eliminate Germany," said Dovalil.

Exhibit B is the attacking threat of Tomáš Pekhart, the qualifying round's nine-goal leading scorer. Sidelined by flu for this week's match in Waalwijk, the 21-year-old has just joined AC Sparta Praha on loan after hitting 11 goals in 15 league appearances for FK Jablonec before Christmas.

Dovalil said: "You have to point out that he scored six times against San Marino [in qualifying], but he also scored decisive goals in other games. He was injured for a long time, but has now been in good shape for over a year. He's been playing regularly with Jablonec and is one of the top scorers in the Czech first division. He has made a great leap forward towards senior football."

At the other end of the pitch, the Czech Republic shipped the fewest goals of all the teams in qualification. "We conceded four goals, three of them from set pieces and one from open play. We had experienced U21 players, Marek Suchý and Ondřej Mazuch, who are good players at this level."

Suchý, who plays abroad at FC Spartak Moskva, is now a regular in the senior Czech squad but Dovalil is hopeful he will be able to call on him for the finals. "I will talk with Marek Suchý, he will probably play. [Sparta Praha forward] Vaclav Kadlec can also play." However, PFC CSKA Moskva striker Tomáš Necid, though 21, is almost certain not to feature, as he is "a key player in the senior squad".

"I think we will take the players who played during the qualifying campaign, they deserve it," added Dovali, who believes the U21 tournament will provide an important learning curve for his young players, whatever the outcome. "They aren't able to play in many international games regularly, and it is a unique opportunity for our players to show what they can do and to gain experience, so it will help all of them."