Zammit wants Stripes to repeat first-leg showing

Coach Paul Zammit wants his players at Birkirkara to reproduce another spirited display today as the Stripes look to qualify to the second qualifying round of the Europa League when they take on Slaven Belupo in the second leg at the Centenary Stadium.

When the draws were made last month, few gave the Stripes a chance of making any progress in this competition when they were pitted against the more-fancied Croat team.

However, the form book was thrown out of the window last week as a depleted Birkirkara frustrated their opponents following a solid defensive match that only earned Slaven a slender 1-0 win ahead of today's second leg.

Zammit, who only took the helm a few weeks ago, is aware of the daunting task facing his team.

Still, he is challenging his players to show the same kind of fighting qualities to earn a place in the next round.

"Slaven Belupo are a very strong team," Zammit told The Times.

"Last week, we did very well in Croatia but we know that Slaven won't be here to defend their narrow one-goal margin. Surely, their players will be keen to produce a better fare than they did at home.

"They have skilful players so we have to avoid committing even the slightest of mistakes to stay in contention... we have to be very careful and my players know that. Every single player in the squad has to give his 100 per cent to achieve a positive result.

"Slaven start favourites but we'll give it our best shot, no doubt. In Croatia, our players were tactically disciplined even if we conceded an early goal. The team never lost shape and we're now prepared to fight it out till the very end."

Zammit will again rely on the same group of players of last week as Michael Galea, George Mallia, Martin Anastasi and Lee Lombardi are all out injured while Ron Hartvig is in Denmark due to family reasons.

"Having so many key players missing makes our task even more difficult," Zammit admitted.

"However, I was encouraged with the performance of some of our young players who, despite having little experience at this level, proved that they have what it takes to form part of our squad this season.

"I have only been here a couple of weeks but the early signs look very promising. This club is passing through a transition period but once our European commitments are over we shall sit down and discuss matters on how to strengthen the squad."

Referee: Georgios Daloukas (Greece).

Kick-off: 6.30 p.m.