Shevchuk ready for promotion

'Ready for serious football'
The 23-year-old defender, capped 17 times at Under-21 level, plays for Russian club FC Shinnik Yaroslavl, having previously been with FC Metalurh Zaporizhya and FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Ukraine coach Leonid Buriak said: "We have been watching him for a while. I think Vyacheslav is ready for serious football and have decided to give him a chance."

Yezerskiy returns
Shevchuk's fellow defender Volodymyr Yezerskiy returns to the squad from suspension. The 26-year-old was sent off after giving away a last-minute penalty in Ukraine's opening UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifier against Armenia in September, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

All-Andriy strikeforce 
Eight foreign-based players are included, with the three Andriys expected to start up front - AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko, German-based FSV Mainz 05 striker Andriy Voronin and Andriy Vorobey of Shakhtar. However, Serhiy Rebrov, on loan at Fenerbahçe SK from Tottenham Hotspur FC, is doubtful with a knee injury.

Second place
Ukraine are second in EURO 2004™ qualifying Group 6, unbeaten after four games but trailing Spain by four points. Their next fixture is the home tie against Armenia on 7 June in Lviv, with a trip to Athens to play Greece, the only team Ukraine have beaten in the qualifiers, following four days later.

Ukraine squad 
Shutkov, Shovkovskyi, Reva, Popov, Tymoschuk, Fedorov, Dmytrulin, Nesmachnyi, Radchenko, Yezerskyi, Shevchuk, Husin, Kormiltsev, Serebrennikov, Kalinichenko, Onischenko, Shevchenko, Voronin, Rebrov, Vorobey, Melaschenko.