Onus on fringe players to shine

Spurred on by the happy memories of Saturday's 2-2 draw against Turkey, Malta will be striving to keep the positive momentum going when they meet Armenia in a friendly match this evening.

Four days on, the brisk display by the Maltese players and the vibrant atmosphere at the National Stadium are still the talk of a nation but coach Dusan Fitzel will doubtless have reminded his players of the pitfalls awaiting them if they lose their focus for today's encounter with Armenia.

The onus of preserving the revived enthusiasm of the local fans towards the national selection will be on a mixture of first-choice and fringe players as Fitzel has already declared his intentions to give his 'substitutes' a chance to showcase their credentials as national team players.

The Czech coach is confident that his players will not suffer from a bout of complacency or over-confidence.

"The training sessions after the match against Turkey have given me a positive feeling," Fitzel told The Times.

"Naturally, the players are on a high but their attitude has not changed. My impression is that, after the great experience of last Saturday, the players are more motivated to do well for themselves and for the fans."

Having picked a 20-man squad, Fitzel hopes to be allowed to make as many substitutions as possible this evening.

Although the Slovakian-born coach regards the match as a useful exercise to experiment with personnel and positions, he nonetheless expects his players to be up for the challenge.

"This is an opportunity for the fringe players to show me that they can also be trusted to do a job for the national team," Fitzel remarked. "We are now entering the final phase of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and this will be our last friendly before our remaining qualifiers.

"The increased likelihood of players getting suspended or injured in the closing stages of this competition means that, at one stage or another, the other members of the squad will get into the first team.

"A coach feels more secure if he knows that all the 20 players in his squad are good enough to play at any given time."

Although Fitzel is clearly satisfied with the input of his first-choice players for much of this qualifying campaign, he also has an eye on the future.

"In the centre of defence, Brian Said is a key player for us but he's 34 now. He played the entire match against Turkey but he will not be in the first team against Armenia. Josef Mifsud will start alongside Luke Dimech," Fitzel said.

"With Jamie Pace suspended for the next qualifier away to Hungary, I also want to find the best solution to replace him. Gareth Sciberras (Marsaxlokk) and Roderick Bajada (Sliema) would have been contenders for Jamie's role but both are injured. But I have other options. Roderick Briffa, Peter Pullicino and Ivan Woods can also play in central midfield."

Fitzel's comments leave no doubt as to his designs to tinker with his formation as well as players' positions during tonight's match against an Armenia team who, judging by their excellent results in Euro 2008 qualifying Group A, are not to be taken lightly.

Suffice to say that Armenia, who have improved a lot under the charge of Scottish coach Ian Porterfield and his assistant Tom Jones, figured in a 1-1 draw against Euro 2004 finalists Portugal and obtained victories over Poland, the group leaders, and Kazakhstan.

The 61-year-old Porterfield has not accompanied his squad to Malta as he is currently undergoing medical treatment in London.

According to the original Euro 2008 fixture schedule, Armenia were to play a double-header against Azerbaijan on Saturday and today but these matches have been cancelled by UEFA's Executive Committee after the two national associations failed to reach a compromise.

After a 3-1 defeat to Cyprus in a friendly match on Saturday, Armenia will be keen on making amends with victory in Malta.

In the absence of Justin Haber, who guarded Malta's goal in last weekend's qualifier against Turkey, veteran Mario Muscat is set to take on the responsibility of warding off Armenia's attacks.

The Hibs goalkeeper will receive support from Dimech and Mifsud while Roderick Briffa and Stephen Wellman are likely to play on the flanks. Pullicino, Etienne Barbara, Cleaven Frendo and Kevin Sammut are expected to play in midfield, although one of them will have to settle for a substitute role if Fitzel decides that captain Gilbert Agius will play his 104th match for Malta from the start.

Woods, who was deployed on the left side of Malta's midfield last Saturday, is likely to be switched to a more offensive position today, playing just behind Andrè Schembri who is expected to play for the first 45 minutes.

Leading names

The likes of Barbara, Sammut and Andrew Cohen are among the most prominent players in the local Premier League but their first-team opportunities at international level have been somewhat restricted.

"It really depends on them," Fitzel replied when asked why these players have slipped down the pecking order in the national squad. "They need to raise their performance to boost their chances of getting more first-team action for the national side."

After the break for international football, the Premier League will resume at the weekend with a five-match programme that includes two plum fixtures, Sliema vs Birkirkara on Saturday and Valletta vs Hibs on Monday.

Asked whether he has received any requests from Premier League coaches to rest or restrict the playing time of their players, Fitzel said: "No, I haven't had such requests but in any case, I can assure the club coaches that the players will not be tired for the weekend's matches. Training this week has been generally light and most of the players will only play for 45 minutes against Armenia."

In the only previous match between the two teams, Armenia beat Malta 1-0 in a friendly match back in 1994.

The referee of today's match is Charles Richmond, from the Scottish FA.

Malta line-up (probable): M. Muscat, R. Briffa, S. Wellman, L. Dimech, J. Mifsud, P. Pullicino, G. Agius, E. Barbara, K. Sammut, I. Woods, A. Schembri.