Ukraine squad short on goalkeeping experience

Coach Oleh Blokhin has named his 26-man provisional squad for Ukraine's UEFA EURO 2012 preparatory camp in Turkey later this month, with eight further players placed on standby.

Blokhin's squad, which will take part in a ten-day training camp from 15 May onwards, includes five players from Ukrainian Premier League leaders FC Shakhtar Donetsk and two based abroad, while FC Dynamo Kyiv boast the greatest representation with ten players hailing from the capital club.

Injured Shakhtar defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy is one of several notable absentees, but Blokhin's greatest concern is in the goalkeeping department, with his three leading contenders all unavailable for selection.

Blokhin has responded by calling up fresh faces including 25-year-old FC Metalurh Donetsk keeper Oleksandr Bandura, who has no international experience at any age level, and Dynamo's Maxym Koval, who has attended a Ukraine training camp on just one occasion.

Metalist's Oleksandr Goryainov, meanwhile, is 17 years Koval's senior yet has played just once for the national side, when helping Ukraine overcome Lithuania 4-0 in May 2010 and becoming his country's eldest debutant at the age of 34 in the process.

Eight more players have been included in the reserve list including the uncapped Oleksandr Volovyk and Olexandr Kovpak, of Metalurh and FC Arsenal Kyiv respectively. "These players will not travel to Turkey, but they need to maintain their form in order to be ready to join the team at any moment," said Blokhin.

Ukraine will begin their UEFA EURO 2012 campaign in Group D against Sweden on 11 June before meeting France four days later. The co-hosts, who will prepare for the tournament with friendly matches against Estonia (28 May), Austria (1 June) and Turkey (5 June), will then face England on 19 France June.

Ukraine provisional squad
Goalkeepers: Oleksandr Bandura (FC Metalurh Donetsk), Oleksandr Goryainov (FC Metalist Kharkiv), Maxym Koval (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Pyatov (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).

Defenders: Bohdan Butko (FC Illychivets Mariupil), Olexandr Kucher (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Vitaly Mandziuk (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Taras Mikhalik (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Yaroslav Rakitskiy (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Yevhen Selin (FC Vorskla Poltava), Yevhen Khacheridi (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Vyacheslav Shevchuk (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).

Midfielders: Olexandr Aliyev (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Denys Garmash (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Oleh Gusev (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Konoplyanka (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Serhiy Nazarenko (SC Tavriya Simferopol), Ruslan Rotan (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Taras Stepanenko (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (FC Bayern München), Andriy Yarmolenko (FC Dynamo Kyiv).

Forwards: Andriy Voronin (FC Dinamo Moskva), Marko Dević (FC Metalist Kharkiv), Artem Milevskiy (FC Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Seleznyov (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Shevchenko (FC Dynamo Kyiv).

On standby: Roman Bezus (FC Vorskla Poltava), Oleksandr Volovyk (FC Metalurh Donetsk), Edmar (FC Metalist Kharkiv), Maxym Kalynychenko (SC Tavriya Simferopol), Olexandr Kovpak (FC Arsenal Kyiv), Artem Fedetskiy (FC Karpaty Lviv), Anton Shinder (SC Tavriya Simferopol), Bohdan Shust (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).