Last-16 berth in sight for Poland past Ukraine

This is the type of fixture that will allow Białe Orły to build their play slowly, allowing Lewandowski to get into the positions from which he is most effective.

The back-to-back defeats has pushed Ukraine out of this Euro 2016 and will finish bottom of Group C even if they have a big win over Poland since Northern Ireland stays above due to the win by the Green and White Army.

Poland coach Adam Nawalka also is not concerned about his captain’s scoring slump in France, saying Lewandowski’s reputation as a world class striker means defenders concentrate on neutralizing his threat and that creates room for his teammates.

Even with that goal-shy record Poland still have four points and are second in Group C, a point above Northern Ireland and level on four with leaders Germany.

Lechia Gdansk midfielder Slawomir Peszko said the meagre total is not a concern for Poland.

He said: “We want to win, we will fight until the final whistle but we respect our opponents”.

Lewandowski was double-marked against Northern Ireland but had more freedom against the Germans, and got on the end of several moves although none counted.

The win against Northern Ireland was Poland’s first ever European Championship victory and by making it to the round-of-16 they would qualify for a knockout rounds for the first time in three appearances at the tournament.

With no serious injury issues, Nawalka’s only headache is whether to start Bartosz Kapustka who earned plaudits when he came on as a substitute against the Irish.

Ukraine lost 2-0 to both Germany and Northern Ireland, the latter defeat coming as a bitter disappointment against a team ranked six places below them. He told the media: “We have lot of information about the opponents from our information bank and thanks to that, we know better how to neutralise them”.

“We have to play the next game for our honour, for the honour of the whole country”.

He is, however, “surprised” by their poor results so far, adding: “They have good players, especially on the wings, but for some reason they have not been able to show it”. The 2012 Euro co-host have failed to score thus far this tournament and are preparing to face a Polish side who is yet to concede.

The Marseille clash will be the the first meeting in a major tournament between the sides. He just wants to beat already-eliminated Ukraine on Tuesday and hopefully advance to the round of 16 from Group C.