Kaiserslautern striker Michael Mifsud has been given the green light to face Slovenia tomorrow but coach Sigfried Held is still unsure whether to risk the speedy striker from the start.

The 20-year-old Mifsud suffered a broken nose in MFA XI's 2-0 defeat to Inter on Tuesday and needs an operation. Although Mifsud has been reassured that he can play tomorrow, Held and his medical stuff want to assess his condition during training before making a definite decision on his inclusion.

"We will see how the situation develops in the next few days. If Michael is not 100 per cent confident that he can play to his full capabilities with all the discomfort that such an injury brings, I don't think that's good for him and the team," Held said after yesterday morning's training session in Slovan.

Mifsud trained with the rest of his team-mates on the lush turf of the Slovan pitch which is only a few metres away from the Sports University.

Apart from Mifsud, Daniel Theuma and Daniel Bogdanovic are Held's other cause of concern with regards injuries. Theuma felt a twinge in his left knee and sat out of the second part of the morning session.

Bogdanovic complained of a hamstring injury and received treatment from MFA doctor Dr David Attard before he resumed training.

Malta's training session yesterday morning was watched by a handful of journalists from Slovenian TV stations. Most of their attention was centred on Mifsud, because of his status as a Bundesliga player with Kaiserslautern and Bogdanovic, whose surname is Yugoslav.

Bogdanovic, who was granted Maltese citizenship a few years back after he married a Maltese girl, is the son of a Montenegrin father and a Slovenian mother.

Although he has emerged as one of the most exciting players in the Premier League in the last 10 months, it is very unlikely that he will start tomorrow evening's qualifier.

Held has yet to select his starting XI but he dropped a crystal clear indication that he intends to stick with the Michael Mifsud-Chucks Nwoko tandem. Asked about Bogdanovic's chances of earning a first-team berth tomorrow, Held said that the Valletta striker, who can also play wide, is unlikely to start.

Here in Ljubljana, sports journalists are expecting a crowd of 8,000 for tomorrow's Group One qualifier, which will also be broadcasted on Slovenian TV.

Expectations are very high after Slovenia's defeat of Italy in a friendly international recently. That victory helped to lift the nation's flailing spirit after a problem-dogged participation in the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.

Srecko Katanec's row with star player Zlatko Zahovic had jaded the atmosphere within the Slovenian national clan and Katanec's subsequent resignation did not help to lift the gloom after the World Cup.

The appointment of Bojan Prasnikar, who is also the coach of Maribor Slovenia, was not greeted with universal approval but the team's performance in that 1-0 victory over Italy enhanced his image in the eyes of the Slovenian public. Prasnikar has called a 20-man squad for tomorrow's game against Malta but he will trim the group to 18 players today.

The Slovenian players reported for international duty on Tuesday and are currently staying in an attractive resort, some 25kms adrift of Ljubljana.

Although Slovenia are surefire favourites to kickstart their Group One qualifier with a win over Malta, their players are reportedly guarding against complacency. They were quoted as saying, that today there are no easy games in international football and that Malta merit respect.

Today, Malta will hold another two training sessions. This morning they will practise at Slovan's training ground whereas this evening at 8.15, they will train at the Central Stadium, the venue of tomorrow's match. Another light training session is planned for tomorrow morning.