Ukraine (0) v Greece (0):UKRAINE are confident they can nullify the counter-attacking threat of Greece and claim a place at the World Cup by defeating Otto Rehhagel's team in the second leg of their qualifying play-off this evening.

Alexei Mikhailichenko's men are in the driving seat ahead of the crunch match in Donetsk having kept the Greeks at bay in Saturday's goalless draw in Athens.

Even though Ukraine defeated Greece to secure qualification for the 2006 World Cup ahead of their rivals, Mikhailichenko is aware of the danger posed by Rehhagel's troops.

"If you analyse the Greek national team matches for as long as Rehhagel is coach you can say they play with the same characteristics every time," said Mikhailichenko. "Greece bet on having a disciplined defence and looking for a chance to counterattack. They are quite right in playing like this and we need to be mindful of this.

"I believe that after the first-leg game away, we are closer to South Africa. However, our chances remain 50-50."

Mikhailichenko has intimated he expects his team to play more attacking football than in the first leg in order to try to win the match in normal time - and avoid the lottery of penalties.

Skipper Andriy Shevchenko, who operated more or less as a lone striker on Saturday, can expect more support from Artem Milevskiy and Oleg Gusev.

Mikhailichenko is without defender Grigoriy Yarmash who has a virus, while fellow defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy is nursing a slight knock from the first leg but is expected to be fit.

Rehhagel has fitness worries over Giorgos Karagounis and Sotiris Kyrgiakos, both of whom did not train with the main group yesterday.