Ukraine and England target first win

Ukraine and England will both be aiming to chalk up their first win of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship when they meet in Herning on Wednesday.

• While Ukraine are bottom of Group B following their 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic on Sunday, a late equaliser earned England an opening point against Spain.

• Despite their slow start, history shows all is not lost for Ukraine. In three of the past five UEFA European Under-21 Championships, the eventual winners lost their opening game – Netherlands in 2006, Italy in 2004 and Czech Republic in 2002.

• In Ukraine and England's only previous U21 encounter a Jermaine Pennant-inspired Young Lions won 3-1 in a friendly in Middlesbrough on 17 August 2004. This will be the countries' first competitive encounter at this level.

• The countries have met four times in the U19s, Ukraine recording a 2-0 win in the 2009 European Championship final in Donetsk after three earlier games had ended in draws.

• The teams had already met in the group stage of the 2009 final tournament, Kyrylo Petrov scoring twice for Ukraine and England's goals coming from Henri Lansbury and Danny Gosling in a 2-2 draw.

• Denys Garmash and Dmytro Korkishko struck the goals in the final at the RSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium on 2 August 2009. The teams were:
England: Steele, Trippier, Mattock, Gosling, Walker, Welbeck (Ranger 64), Drinkwater (Tutte 55), Delfouneso, Lansbury, Bennett, Briggs (Hoyte 56).
Ukraine: Levchenko, Kushnirov, Partsvania, Kryvtsov, Petrov (Yeremenko 90+6), Garmash, Shakhov, Rybalka, Kaverin (Shevchuk 80), Korkishko, Chaikovsky.

• The nations have met four times at senior international level, England recording three victories at home before losing 1-0 in Dnipropetrovsk in the most recent encounter, a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 10 October 2009.

• Goalkeeper Robert Green's early dismissal helped Ukraine's cause. Serhiy Nazarenko scored the only goal with current U21 international Andriy Yarmolenko coming on as a substitute for Ukraine.

• England won 2-0 against Ukraine in the sides' only competitive U17 meeting, at the 2004 European Championship. Shane Paul and Nathan Doyle hit the goals.

• England coach Stuart Pearce scored his only goal in UEFA club competition in his one match against Ukrainian opponents, helping Newcastle United FC beat FC Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• English and Ukrainian sides have met in 32 UEFA club competition games. The English hold the upper hand with a record of W16 D9 L7.

Ukraine news

• Substitute Maxym Biliy's 87th-minute strike was not enough to salvage a point for Ukraine, who lost their opening game to the Czech Republic in Viborg after two Bořek Dočkal goals earlier in the second half.

• Captain Taras Stepanenko was replaced in the 54th minute after suffering a recurrence of an adductor muscle injury in his thigh. A subsequent scan on Monday ruled him out for the rest of the tournament.

• Forward Roman Zozulya was booked against the Czechs, and will serve a one-match ban if he is shown another yellow card against England.

• Following Stepanenko's withdrawal, Yaroslav Rakitskiy assumed the armband and his FC Shakhtar Donetsk club-mate's position as midfield anchorman.

• Coach Pavlo Yakovenko had lost first-choice left-back Yevhen Selin to a high temperature on the day of the Czech Republic game.

• Ukraine's players saw the pitch at the Viborg Stadion for the first time 40 minutes before kick-off after electing not to make the two-hour round trip from their base to train there on the eve of the game.

• Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU) president Grigoriy Surkis came into the dressing room after the match to offer his support and told the players to keep their chin up.

• Yakovenko's squad had landed in Denmark on Friday. Two days before – as is tradition under Yakovenko – the squad visited the famous Christian Orthodox monastery in the capital, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, where they received a blessing from a monk.

England news

• Danny Welbeck struck with two minutes remaining to earn a draw against Spain in Herning. England had trailed for most of the match after Ander Herrera's 14th-minute opener.

• Welbeck was booked in the opening game, meaning he will miss his country's third group match against the Czech Republic if he is shown another yellow card on Wednesday.

• Centre-back Phil Jones completed his move from Blackburn Rovers FC to Manchester United FC on Monday, signing a five-year contract in a deal thought to be worth up to €19m.

• Table tennis has proved to be one of the most popular activities among the England players in their down time at their Brejning base.

• England had flown into Billund airport on Wednesday and had their first practice session at FC Fredericia's ground – the squad's training base for the tournament.

• Jordan Henderson joined up with the squad late having stayed in England to complete his transfer to Liverpool FC. Jones' talks over his move to Manchester United also delayed his arrival.