Fitzel banks on mixture of experience and new

National coach Dusan Fitzel has indicated his readiness to experiment with his choice of personnel for tomorrow's home friendly against Iceland by naming a host of newcomers and other fringe players in his 18-man squad.

Three players who have been absent from national duty for a long time, namely Daniel Bogdanovic, Andrei Agius and Alex Muscat, have all been confirmed in Fitzel's final list along with the uncapped Clayton Failla and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza.

Fitzel has left out a number of first-choice players such as captain Gilbert Agius, Jamie Pace, Luke Dimech, Aaron Xuereb and goalkeeper Justin Haber. The likely reason behind their omission is that the coach wants to have a look at new players and others who have not figured regularly in Malta's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign so far.

Midfielder Kevin Sammut made his much-awaited comeback from injury in Marsaxlokk's 1-1 draw with Birkirkara on Sunday but he has been omitted from the latest squad due to a lack of match practice.

A slight injury has put Birkirkara's Shaun Bajada out of the equation while Udo Nwoko, who is on the books of Portuguese high-fliers Leixoes, has been overlooked.

Fitzel wants to add competition for places in the national squad after deciding to continue as national coach following a period of reflection on his position in the aftermath of the team's World Cup qualifying defeats to Denmark and Hungary last month.

Fitzel's squad for tomorrow's match at the Hibs Ground, kicking off at 2.30 p.m., is not entirely made up of 'novices' as a number of experienced players are in contention for a place in the team.

The likes of Michael Mifsud, Roderick Briffa, Kenneth Scicluna, Brian Said, Ian Azzopardi, George Mallia, Ivan Woods, Andre Schembri and Etienne Barbara are all in the squad. Mifsud was not in Coventry City's squad for Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Plymouth after picking up a knock during training in midweek.

Young defender Agius, currently playing for Sicilian club Igea Virtus in Italy's Serie C2, has two senior caps but his last appearance came in the 1-0 defeat to Japan in a pre-World Cup 2006 friendly played in Germany.

Bogdanovic has not donned the Malta shirt since the 1-0 defeat away to Bosnia Herzegovina in a Euro 2008 qualifier in June last year.

The 28-year-old forward, who has established himself as a key player for Lokomotiv Sofia, has played 19 times for the national team.

Sliema's Muscat earned his second and last cap for Malta in the 2006 International Tournament.

Iceland arrived in Malta yesterday and had their first training session last night.

Malta squad

Goalkeepers: Andrew Hogg (Valletta), Mario Muscat (Hibernians).

Defenders: Jonathan Caruana (Hibs), Roderick Briffa, Ian Azzopardi, Alex Muscat (all Sliema), Kenneth Scicluna (Valletta), Brian Said (Marsaxlokk), Andrei Agius (Igea Virtus).

Midfielders: Clayton Failla (Hibs), Ryan Fenech (Ħamrun Spartans), George Mallia (Birkirkara), Ivan Woods (Sliema).

Forwards: Daniel Bogdanovic (Lokomotiv Sofia), Michael Mifsud (Coventry City), Etienne Barbara (SC Verle), Andrè Schembri (Carl Zeiss Jena), Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza (Birkirkara).