KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine face a mammoth task when they take on world champions Italy in a Euro 2008 Group B qualifier today, with anything less than victory leaving them practically no chance of reaching next year's finals.

Ukraine cannot afford to drop any more points after being held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Georgia on Saturday, having conceded a late equaliser.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin blasted his players for what he called "a shameless performance".

"We can't have people clowning around on the pitch, we must respect the opposition," he said, pointing a finger at Spartak Moscow midfielder Maxim Kalinichenko for the Georgia goal.

"Georgia had two half-chances for the whole match and were able to score while we wasted several golden opportunities to put the game away after going up 1-0 and paid the price."

Blokhin spared Andriy Shevchenko from blame but the Chelsea striker was clearly below his best after playing his first full match of the new season following a back injury.

"I must admit I'm still far from my best condition," he told reporters after the Georgia match.

"Hopefully, we'll play much better as a team against Italy."

The Italians, too, have not been up to the standard expected of World Cup winners but have picked up the pace after a slow start to their qualifying campaign.

They are third in the group with 17 points, two points behind leaders France after being held to a 0-0 draw by them in a repeat of last year's World Cup final on Saturday.

Ukraine, who reached the quarter-finals on their World Cup debut last year, are fourth on 13 points but have a game in hand over their rivals.

"We have a difficult trip to Ukraine where we must be careful not to leave ourselves exposed," Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro told reporters.

Vincenzo Iaquinta has replaced fellow striker Luca Toni, who has a thigh strain, while hard-tackling midfielder Gennaro Gattuso is suspended after a yellow card on Saturday.

Alessandro Del Piero (pictured) looked well off the pace against France and Daniele De Rossi was sloppy in midfield, leaving coach Roberto Donadoni with some thinking to do before the Kiev match.

Only half of the capacity crowd will be allowed into the 84,000-seat Olympic stadium, which is scheduled to host the European Championship final in 2012, because of safety concerns linked to the construction of a nearby shopping centre.

World and European soccer's governing bodies FIFA and UEFA said the centre posed a security risk and limited the attendance.