Defending champion Irina Mikitenko admits she faces an awesome task to defend her Flora London Marathon title in April.

Mikitenko will line up on April 26 against nine women who have run quicker than two hours 22 minutes over the distance, headed by world record holder Paula Radcliffe and current Olympic and world champions Constantina Dita and Catherine Ndereba.

"For a long time I have not seen such a strong field as in the next Flora London Marathon," said Mikitenko,who missed the Beijing Olympics with a back injury.

"With such a strong field you cannot predict anything. It will be really interesting to see how this race will develop.

"I will prepare as well as possible and hope that I don't get any setbacks with injuries. Then we will see what will be possible."

Mikitenko resumed serious training last month and plans to compete at the Trier New Year's Eve race over 5km in Germany before warm-weather training in Spain in January.