GB captain John Lloyd will be hoping Andy Murray is available next year
Great Britain have been handed a home tie against Ukraine in next year's Euro/Africa zone of the Davis Cup.
GB suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat by Austria in their World Group play-off at Wimbledon on Sunday, which saw them relegated to the second tier.
It will be the fourth time Britain have taken on Ukraine, having won all three previous meetings.
The tie was initially scheduled for May, but has been moved forward to 6-8 March, with the venue to be decided.
British captain John Lloyd told the LTA website: "This is definitely a match we are capable of winning.
"(Sergiy) Stakhovsky is a good young player who is on the up and can play well on any surface but I think this a good draw for us.
"Now it's time for us to do a bit of research on what is the best surface for the players, so I'll spend some time studying the results of their players over the last year and start thinking about where we're going to play.
"They will be full of confidence after a 5-0 win against Portugal to make it into this group but we beat them last time when we had to travel away, so I'm confident that we will be able to do it again."
Lloyd will be desperate to ensure that world number four Andy Murray is available to face Ukraine.
The Scot, 21, was disheartened by his team-mates' efforts against Austria but another home tie should ensure Murray leads the team next time.
The shift in date from May to March should help convince Murray to take part.
Had the tie taken place in May, as originally planned, it would have been sandwiched between the Rome and Madrid Masters on clay.
Murray may not have wanted to switch back to grass or hardcourt between clay tournaments, but March puts the tie in the middle of a hardcourt stretch.
It is likely that Lloyd will therefore choose a hardcourt surface for the visit of Ukraine, making Glasgow or Birmingham more likely to host the tie than Wimbledon.
Ukraine's leading player is world number 83 Stakhovsky, who lost in straight sets to Murray when Britain beat Ukraine 3-2 in Odessa three years ago.
After Stakhovsky, Ukraine will have to turn to the likes of world number 213, Ilia Marchenko, or the 285th-ranked Sergei Bubka.
Lloyd will have to make a decision on who to pick as Britain's second singles player after Alex Bogdanovic again failed to register a win against Austria.
In the 2009 World Group, Roger Federer's Switzerland team have been drawn away to the United States in the first round.
World number two Federer has promised to play in the first round after opting out in recent years to concentrate on other tournaments.
Spain, finalists this year, will face Serbia, a tie which could feature a clash between world number one Rafael Nadal and number three Novak Djokovic.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?