Team news

Self-belief is key for Ramos FC Dnipro coach Juande Ramos insists self-belief has enabled the Ukrainian club to defy expectations in the Europa League.

Top spot in Group F may already have been secured, but Dnipro are determined to finish off their pool campaign in style when they host AIK, who have failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

Ramos is especially satisfied as the more established European sides Napoli and PSV Eindhoven have been brought to heel.

"I think that it's thanks to the surprisingly good spirit within the group, especially since everyone thought initially that PSV and Napoli would be the teams to progress from this group," he said.

Ramos believes Dnipro can go on to become a major player in the region, providing they continue to receive strong backing "We want to compete with teams like FC Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Zenit St Petersburg, FC Rubin Kazan and PFC CSKA Moscow," said the former Tottenham boss, who has been in charge since October 2010.

"But this depends on the ambition of the directors of the club in terms of showing they want strengthen the team." Dnipro have an impressive record at the Dnipro Arena, where they have won all three Europa League matches by two goals.

Alongside Lyon they are also the joint top scorers in the group stage having hit the target 12 times.

Dnipro vs AIK

Last modified 20:24 06/12/12

Dnipro cruise into knockout stages Dnipro eased through to the knockout stages of the Europa League as winners of Group F after claiming a comfortable 4-0 victory over AIK Solna at the Dnipro Arena.

Juan de la Cruz Ramos Cano's outfit never looked in danger of losing to AIK, who had previously picked up just four points and had no hope of progressing.

Nikola Kalinic put the home side ahead from the spot after 19 minutes and Roman Zozulya added a second just before half-time.

The striker grabbed his second after the restart, before Serhiy Kravchenkoas completed the scoring as AIK exited the competition bottom of the group.

Only a defeat and a Napoli victory could prevent Dnipro from topping the group, but that scenario never looked likely after they took the lead after 20 minutes.

They were given a helping hand by their Swedish opposition, as Yevgen Konoplianka's corner was punched in the area by full-back Martin Lorentzson.

Striker Kalinic did the rest from the spot as his effort straight down the middle beat Ivan Turina for his second goal in the competition.

The hosts were two goals up seven minutes before the break when Zozulya got on the end of a Konoplianka cross, placing his effort into the bottom right-hand corner.

The game was over just six minutes into the second half before Zozulya grabbed his second, again beating Turina with a low effort.