Pitch battle awaits Dnipro

With both the Ukrainian and Serbo-Montenegrin leagues still on their winter break, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and FK Partizan have had a whole week to mull over the second leg of their UEFA Cup fixture.

Cold victim
Having come from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw in the first leg in snowy Belgrade, Dnipro's major concern has been striker Oleh Venhlinskiy, who has gone down with a cold, while coach Evgeniy Kucherevskiy will also be without suspended midfield player Oleh Shelayev for the second leg.

Broader options
The return of Dmytro Semochko, Konstyantyn Kravchenko and Serhiy Matiukhin from injuries has broadened Kucherevskiy's options, but while the team are feeling fine following their pre-season training camp in Turkey, they are not necessarily looking forward to returning to their Meteor stadium.

Soggy pitch
"We are in decent physical condition and are hoping for a good spring campaign," said defender Matiukhin. "The most important thing is to avoid injuries. Unlike Turkey where we trained on top-quality pitches, the condition of the pitch at Meteor is not good: the pitch is swampy and washed out."

Boya returns
Having struggled on a heavy pitch at home last week, that will be bad news for Partizan who also have midfield player Nenad Brnovic suspended. However, prolific Cameroonian striker Pierre Boya has recovered from injury while Korean Chiwoo Kim is also back in the squad after serving a ban.

'The better side'
"I am optimistic because I think that we are the better side," said goalkeeper Ivica Kralj. "We know what we have to do to stop Dnipro and we will be totally focused and wise. Partizan are in a position to achieve an extraordinary result and we will not miss that opportunity."

Realistic expectations
However, defender Zoran Mirkovic was not so sure. "Everyone wants to go further in the competition, but I am trying to be realistic," he said. "We reached our goal by staying in the UEFA Cup until the spring. I just want us to play a good match and show that we are not an insignificant side on the European scene."