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The veteran striker has plenty of respect for Roy Hodgson's side, but does not want co-hosts' tournament to end on Tuesday

Andriy Shevchenko was doing his best to put on a brave face and say the right things but the mood in Ukraine has changed. The euphoria that accompanied the victory over Sweden in their opening group game in Kiev had been washed away come the end of a night when the heavens opened in Donetsk. France, who were superior in every department at the Donbass Arena on Friday, weathered the storm and inflicted a defeat that leaves the co-hosts in a dishevelled state ahead of Tuesday's meeting with England.

Oleh Blokhin, the Ukraine coach, has the job of picking up the pieces and it promises to be no easy task on the back of an evening when some of the home supporters felt so let down by what they were witnessing that they turned on their own team. Blokhin was upset with the fans' reaction and suggested that he should have been the target of their anger rather than the players, although he also made no attempt to conceal his annoyance with the way that his side performed and, in particular, their meek response after conceding a second goal.

In many ways the France result has proved to be a reality check for everyone in Ukraine. There were wild celebrations across the country on the back of Shevchenko's brilliant double against Sweden on Monday night and it was not just the fans that got carried away. Blokhin said after the France game that he felt some of his players thought they had qualified for the quarter-finals. They may still get there, but the position now is that nothing less than a victory against an England side that Shevchenko rates as "one of the most dangerous here" will be enough for the co-hosts.

"We knew it was a very difficult game [on Friday] and the French played really well, especially in the second half. But we still have a chance," Shevchenko, the Ukraine captain, said. "We know that if we can beat England we'll qualify for the knockout stage. [But] we'll have to play much better than we did against France if we want to beat England. They are definitely one of the most dangerous teams here. They had a good result against France and they beat Sweden, so they've had a great start. Home advantage helps us a lot. There's also a bit more pressure for us, but I hope the crowd will be nice to us and we can get a good result."

Shevchenko seemed to question the wisdom of Wayne Rooney coming straight back into the England starting lineup, pointing out "this is a player who hasn't played for a month" when asked about the prospect of coming up against the Manchester United striker. He is, though, fully aware of how Rooney's inclusion can alter the dynamic of Hodgson's side. "I know he's a very good player and someone who can change the team," he said. "But the whole England team is very good. They are most dangerous from set-pieces, corners and free-kicks. We will have to watch that."

England should certainly take plenty of encouragement from the way France exposed Ukraine's defensive shortcomings on Friday. The co-hosts were opened up time and again and it was interesting afterwards to listen to Laurent Blanc, the France coach, dissecting the weaknesses in Blokhin's side. Blanc talked about how France had targeted the flanks as an area where Ukraine were vulnerable and he also spoke about the amount of space they leave "in behind" because of their open style of play. Franck Ribéry, Karim Benzema and Jérémy Ménez took full advantage.

Blokhin may make a couple of changes to tighten things up against England, whose last meeting with Ukraine ended in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Dnipropetrovsk in October 2009. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk played that day and has not given up hope of a repeat scoreline on Tuesday. "I think it's possible to get a 1-0 win," the Bayern Munich midfielder said. "We need to play more compactly, perhaps control the ball more in defence, control all areas of the pitch and go forward on counterattacks. England are a top team. [But] I think it will be easier than playing against France." Read More

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