Bezzina, Herrera and Fenech earn call-up

Malta coach John Buttigieg has signalled his intent to inject fresh blood into his squad by naming three uncapped players in his provisional list for the friendly match against Bulgaria on November 18.

Flank defenders Steve Bezzina and Edward Herrera, who play for Valletta and Hibs respectively, and Birkirkara midfielder Paul Fenech are the new names in the 23-man list.

As expected, Barnsley forward Daniel Bogdanovic has been recalled and, barring injury, should make his first appearance in a Malta shirt since Buttigieg took over from Dusan Fitzel as national coach.

Defender Andrei Agius, of SS Cassino in Italy's Serie C2, has also been shortlisted but Ferencvaros goalkeeper Justin Haber and André Schembri, of SC Kaernten, have been left out.

Veteran defender Luke Dimech, who was jettisoned from the national squad for disciplinary reasons in the lead-up to the friendly against Georgia in August, and Terrence Scerri are also conspicuous by their absence.

Buttigieg has decided to make do without Australia-based players John Hutchinson and Manny Muscat, both of whom started Malta's final World Cup 2010 qualifier against Portugal last month.

The coach said it made little sense to ask Muscat and Hutchinson to travel from Australia to Malta and back for a friendly match.

"This will be our first match since we finished our World Cup qualifying campaign with the match against Portugal (Malta lost 4-0)," Buttigieg said.

"We have now begun our preparations for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. We have called some new players for this friendly and I hope more will be added to the squad in the next months."

Faced with a question about Schembri's absence, Buttigieg said that it was the SK Kaernten midfielder who asked to skip the last international matches in order to concentrate on his club career.

Striker Michael Mifsud, who is still without a club, has retained his place in the Malta squad for the friendly to be played at the Hibs Ground. Veterans Gilbert Agius, the Malta captain, and Brian Said are also in while Hibs defender Aaron Xuereb is back after a long absence due to injury.

Edwin Camilleri, the Malta U-21 coach, spoke about his team's preparations for Friday's UEFA U-21 qualifier away to Slovenia.

Camilleri said that Tarxien Rainbows striker Warren Chircop is ruled out by suspension while John Mintoff, Steve Bonnici and Glanville Goodlip are recovering from long-term injuries.

Raymond Schembri, assistant coach of Malta's U-19 team, and Mark Gatt, assistant coach of the women's national side, spoke about their teams' forthcoming commitments.

The U-19s are bracing themselves for a series of arduous tests as they will play against the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Cyprus in a UEFA mini-tournament, to be played here between November 12 and 17.

The women's team will entertain Austria in a World Cup qualifier tomorrow week. The match will be played at the Centenary Stadium

Malta squad (provisional)

Goalkeepers: A. Hogg, M. Muscat.

Defenders: A. Agius, I. Azzopardi, S. Bajada, S. Bezzina, E. Herrera, B. Said, K. Scicluna, A. Xuereb.

Midfielders: G. Agius, R. Briffa, C. Failla, R. Fenech, P. Fenech. G. Mallia, J. Pace, K. Sammut.

Forwards: E. Barbara, D. Bogdanovic, M. Mifsud, J.P. Mifsud Triganza, I. Woods.