The players from "Dinaz" returned from vacation at the end of last week. The training process is once again in charge of Oleksandr Golovko, who was previously an assistant to coach Oleksandr Ryabokon, who decided to continue his career with another club.

The rest of the participants in the championship group and relegation group have already completed their first preparation stage. Since clubs from the UPL are already engaged in official matches, first league teams often conduct friendlies among themselves or against visiting lower division teams.

"Metalist 1925" shows the greatest activity. In fact, this is not surprising since Kharkivians were the first to resume training. However, despite an impressive lineup for a second division representative, Slobozhans do not impress in friendly matches. They only managed to avoid defeat against "Bukovyna" (2:2) at the last minute and then lost to "Prykarpattia" (1:2).

Another winter recruit for "Metalist 1925" is Nigerian Kristian Mba, who previously played for Albanian club "Partizani". The goalkeeper preparation will continue to be handled by Dutch specialist Dennis Gentenaar, who once worked with Patrick van Leeuwen in the Donetsk "Shakhtar" system.

The players of "Bukovyna" have already set off for their second Zakarpattia training camp, which will again take place near Uzhhorod. Unfortunately, one of the last February friendlies saw a serious injury to main striker Maxim Hryn, who is out until the end of this year. On March 4th, Chernivtsi's team will face second league "Slovo-1911" in a match.

Active on the transfer market are teams from Dnipropetrovsk region. The squad of one of the leaders of the first division, "Agrobusiness", has been strengthened by Ernest Romanchuk from "Dinaz", Artem Nizhnyk from "Girnik-Sport" and Oleksandr Shevchuk from amateur team "Lutsksantehmontazh-536".

Credit should be given to the coaching staff of "Podillya" for requesting contracts with young academy graduates Yevhen Kondratyuk, Pavlo Savchuk and Oleksandr-Nasimi Seraphimov. Another recruit, veteran Anton Savin, is well known for his appearances in the UPL.

Terнопіль's "Niva" has signed only Andriy Demidenko from FC YUKSA so far. The fate of other potential new signings will be determined after a friendly match with "Prykarpattia".

In contrast, in "Kremen", eight players are currently on trial. Whether they will remain with the team from Kremenchuk will only become clear after the traditional winter tournament organized by the Poltava Football Association.

Calendar and standings