The left-sided Inter Milan defender, who scored the winning penalty-kick in the World Cup final, has a right thigh strain and according to Italian media reports is very doutbful for the match at Rome's Olympic stadium.

Grosso will have a scan later on Tuesday while the rest of the squad train at their Coverciano base in Florence.

Should Grosso fail to recover in time, Barcelona's Gianluca Zambrotta will probably play on the left of Italy's defence with Lazio's Massimo Oddo on the right.

After the Ukraine match this weekend, Italy face Georgia in Tbilisi the following Wednesday.

The Azzurri are desperate for positive results from their next two qualifiers having taken just one point from their first two games against Lithuania and France.

The 2008 European championships will be held jointly by Switzerland and Austria.