UEFA U21 Championship 2011: England v Ukraine

Group B - England v Ukraine 20:45 MCH Arena, Herning, Denmark

Both teams enter tonight's clash in Herning in need of points.

Ukraine lost their opening clash 2-1 to the Czech Republic, while England scraped a 1-1 draw with Spain with Danny Welbeck's late leveller.

England coach Stuart Pearce insisted his side had been more skilful in training than they were against Spain, but must have been worried by the lack of guile in midfield. Starting with Jack Rodwell might alleviate some of those worries, but work needs to be done on the movement and first-touches of the strike Daniels Sturridge and Welbeck.

The Three Lions were penetrative on the flanks, particularly from their man of the match Kyle Walker, but a dearth of accurate crosses may push Pearce into fielding Aston Villa winger Marc Albrighton, who impressed in the Premier League this season.

Ukraine, rated by Pearce as one of the top three teams in the tournament, will be desperate to avoid defeat and tournament elimination tonight. They pulled a goal back against the unbeaten Czechs in their opener late on after a spirited fightback but the two-goal deficit proved too much in the end.

Ukranian football is still feeling confident after Shakhtar Donetsk made it to the last eight in the Champions League this year, and with Euro 2012 imminent in their homeland. Ukraine won the U19 version two years ago and two of those winners now play in the Under-21s, who topped a qualifying group including Belgium, France and Slovenia before edging out the Netherlands on away goals for a place in Denmark.

Their entire squad is domestically based and little known outside Ukraine, but expect to see more of some of these starlets at next season's European Championship finals.

After their first outing ended in defeat they suffered a double blow with the injury to skipper Taras Stepanenko, who will probably be replaced by Shaktar defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy.

Other match (18:00 Viborg - Czech Republic v Spain)

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