Black Sea calls for Shakhtar pair

FC Shakhtar Donetsk have loaned defenders Vyacheslav Sviderskiy and Serhiy Tkachenko to FC Chernomorets Odesa until the summer.

Shakhtar stalemate
The two 28-year-olds have joined Chernomorets at their training camp in Turkey and will be hoping to help Seman Altman's side to win a UEFA Cup place in the second half of the Premier League season. "The Odesa coach called me and offered me a move," said Sviderskiy. "One of the national team coaches said being on loan at Chornomorets would be the best way out of the stalemate I found myself in." Sviderskiy has played just three league games since joining Shakhtar in 2005.

Familiar face
Tkachenko is already a familiar figure at Chernomorets, having represented the club from 1997 to 1999. He joined Shakhtar at the start of the current season, but has made just five league appearances to date. The club have also allowed defender Leonardo to return to Brazil to join Santos FC on loan. The 20-year-old won the Brazilian title with the club in 2004 and has been given permission to return to Santos until the end of this year, having played 15 league games for Shakhtar since joining the club in 2005. Shakhtar take on AS Nancy Lorraine in the second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie this Thursday with the scores level at 1-1 from the first leg in Ukraine.