The Republic of Ireland, women's U17 team are based in Ukraine this week to compete in the elite qualifying phase of the UEFA Championships where only the winner of group 3 which contains Ukraine, Poland and Sweden will advance to the semi-finals of the competition.

Noel King's side have a perfect record in the competition to date following their victorious trip to Slovenia last year where they defeated Denmark, Turkey and the tournament hosts, Slovenia, scoring nine goals and keeping three consecutive clean sheets in the process.

On the eve of their opening group game against the Ukraine, Republic of Ireland captain, Dora Gorman has issued a statement of intent of the sides ambitions to reach their very first UEFA Championship final appearance at this level, "We are under no illusion to the size of the task which is ahead of us this week. When the draw was first made, Sweden were the obvious strong contenders in the group but I think that Ukraine and Poland could have a very big say in who will top this group and go to the UEFA Championship finals this summer," she said.

The Salthill Devon defender added, "Swedish international women's teams at any level are ranked among the best in the world alongside the USA and Germany but I think that there has been a lot of work put into this team over the past season and our unbeaten run in the competition means that we will not fear anybody. We would be foolish to write-off teams like Ukraine and Poland. While Ukraine may be an unknown opposition to us, they are here on merit and we will not be taking anything for granted against them tomorrow. We have played Poland a number of times in friendlies over the years and they will be very strong opponents and it is up to us to ensure that we are still in with a strong chance of qualifying going into the final game against Sweden."

The winners of the UEFA Championship, group 3 elite qualifying phase will advance to the four-team UEFA Championship finals which take place in Nyon Switzerland in June 2010. Three of the finalists at those finals will also advance to the FIFA Women's U18 World Cup which will take place in Trinidad and Tobago in September 2010.

However, Gorman has stated that while the side are aware of the prize at stake in this group, they remain fully focused on the task at hand, "I would be lying if I said that we weren't conscious about qualifying for the European Championships and in-turn the FIFA World Cup. That would be the biggest moment in our footballing careers to date but the only way you get to major finals is by concentrating on each game at a time and at this moment, we are fully focused on beating our hosts, Ukraine tomorrow and getting our elite qualifying campaign off to the best possible start," she added.

UEFA Women's U17 elite qualifying phase fixtures

Saturday, April 10th 2010
Republic of Ireland v Ukraine
Fiolent Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 13.00hrs (local time)

Monday, April 12th 2010
Poland v Republic of Ireland
Krymteplitsa Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 16.00 hrs (local time)

Thursday, April 15th 2010
Republic of Ireland v Sweden
Krymteplitsa Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 16.00 hrs (local time)

Republic of Ireland squad
Grace Moloney - Reading FC
Kerry Glynn - Montclair Thunderbolts
Jessica Gleeson - Tramore FC
Megan Campbell - St. Francis FC
Ciara Grant - Kilmacrennan Celtic
Siobhan Killeen - Raheny United
Dora Gorman - Salthill Devon
Denise O'Sullivan - Wilton United
Stacie Jayne Donnelly - Reading FC
Niamh McLaughlin - Greencastle FC
Ciara O'Brien - Tramore FC
Aileen Gilroy - Killala FC
Rianna Jarrett - North End United FC
Jennifer Byrne - Bealnamulla FC
Amanda Budden - Wilton United
Rebecca Kearney - Lakewood Athletic
Clare Shine - Douglas Hall FC
Tanya Kennedy - Finn Valley FC