Buttigieg urges Stripes to keep composure at the Poljud Stadium

Birkirkara play famous Croatian team Hajduk Split in the first leg of the UEFA Cup first qualifying round tonight, looking to produce a creditable showing at the Poljud Stadium to keep their hopes alive ahead of the second leg at the end of this month.

The Stripes' job will be a difficult one though as Hajduk boast a better pedigree in Europe besides enjoying a 100 per cent record against Maltese clubs in previous matches from UEFA competitions.

In fact, the six-times Croatia champions and three times Champions Cup quarter-finalists, eliminated Floriana in the Champions Cup in 1975 (8-0 on aggregate) and Żurrieq in the UEFA Cup in 1982 (8-1 over two legs).

However, times changed since then with Maltese teams showing some progress and avoiding similar heavy drubbings on the continent.

Also, Hajduk Split are not the dominant force they used to be in their country any more. Now, they have to contend with the might of Dinamo Zagreb, who in 2007/08 won the league championship for the third time in a row and with plenty of points to spare at the top.

Hajduk earned the right to play in the UEFA Cup as Croatia Cup beaten finalists. They lost the final to Dinamo 3-0 on aggregate and finished fifth in the league.

The league in Croatia starts on July 27. Hajduk are in an advanced stage in their pre-season training and in their build-up to the UEFA Cup and national league they played some friendlies, one of which was against Napoli. Hajduk won 1-0.

Birkirkara are also half-way through their pre-season. They started the campaign on a bright note after winning the Euro Challenge Cup last week and also played a warm-up match against Dundee at the Luxol Ground. The result was 0-0.

Coach John Buttigieg has a main objective in mind as he intends to give his youngsters more experience on the international scene.

"We know our chances of qualifying are almost minimal when facing teams like Hajduk," he said.

"Croatia is one of the leading nations in European football as witnessed in last month's Euro 2008. Hajduk are not the Croatia champions but they play in a league which is far superior than ours.

"We'll do our utmost to give them a hard time in both matches but the priority is to give my players a chance to gain valuable experience at this level. It will come useful along the season and help the ones coming up mature into better players."

Birkirkara will have two foreign players in their squad, Danish defender Ronnie Hartvig and Emil Yantchev, of Bulgaria. There are no injury doubts but there was no place for Lino Galea and Adrian Ciantar in the squad as both players are locked in discussions over a new contract.

Buttigieg has enough knowledge of the game to realise that Hajduk will be tough clients for the Stripes.

"These are delicate matches for teams like Birkirkara," he said.

"One has to stay calm and never lose composure as we expect Hajduk to rush into attack to secure qualification before they play in Malta for the second leg.

"Our 100 per cent effort could still not be enough to stop Hajduk but I know my lads well and feel confident that if we stay disciplined we can secure a decent result in Split."

On TV: Hajduk Split-Birkirkara will be screened live on Melita Sports at 9 p.m.