Strike duo nearing return
05 Jun 2006 - 13:44:40
Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov are set to give Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin a timely boost by returning to action against Luxembourg on Thursday.
A knee injury has prevented Chelsea new boy Shevchenko playing any part in Ukraine's World Cup warm-up programme so far, while strike partner Rebrov picked up a hip injury during the training camp.
Neither will feature in Monday's clash with Libya, but Blokhin hopes both will play some part in the final pre-tournament friendly.
"If everything goes well, he (Shevchenko) will be able to play in the warm-up match against Luxembourg on Thursday," Blokhin told Sport-Express.
"I hope Rebrov will also be in proper shape by then."
Andriy Pyatov, Olexandr Yatsenko, Dmytro Chygrynsky and Artem Milevskiy may also feature after linking up with the senior squad following the end of the European Under-21 Championship.
All four played in Ukraine's 3-0 defeat against the Netherlands in the final on Sunday.