Malta U-21 meet Portugal in friendly tonight

After a rigorous one-week training camp in the Czech Republic, Malta's U-21 team will be looking to pep up their match sharpness when they take on Portugal in a friendly match tonight.

Coach Mark Miller is currently preparing his squad for their upcoming UEFA Under-21 Championship Group 10 qualifiers, starting with a difficult fixture away to Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 8.

Four days later, Malta, who opened their European campaign with a last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Romania at the Hibernians Ground in June, meet France at home.

An away match against a strong team like Portugal should serve as a useful test for Miller's charges as they fine-tune their preparations for their competitive assignments for the remainder of the year.

Miller will be hoping that his U-21 players can emulate the creditable result achieved by their predecessors who held Portugal to a goalless draw in a friendly three years ago.

That match was played just days after the Maltese squad concluded a pre-season training camp in Germany.

Miller is expected to make use of most of the players in his 21-man squad for tonight's friendly at the Rio Ave FC Stadium.

Midfielder Andrei Agius, who recently sealed a one-year loan move from Italian Serie B club Messina to Igea Virtus, who compete in the Serie C2, is available to play for Malta U-21 after joining up with the squad in Portugal on Sunday.

The players in Miller's squad are:

Goalkeepers - Miguel Montfort, Henry Bonello, Luke Woods.

Defenders - Edward Herrera, Kenneth Spiteri, Clayton Failla, Steve Borg, Clifford Gatt Baldacchino, Justin Grioli.

Midfielders - Andrei Agius, Ryan Fenech, Paul Fenech, Tyrone Farrugia, Dyson Falzon, Matthew Bartolo, John Mintoff, Edmond Agius, Thomas Paris.

Forwards - Ian Zammit, Angus Buhagiar, Steve Meilaq.