Marlow devises cautious plan

Mindful that a comprehensive defeat in the first leg would all but ruin his team's chances of advancing to the next round, Sliema Wanderers coach Mark Marlow will opt for a prudent approach in this evening's Europa League encounter with Croatian team HNK Sibenik at the SC Hrvatskih Vitezova stadium in Dugopolje (kick-off 6.30 p.m.).

HNK Sibenik are an unknown quantity in European football as they are taking part in a UEFA club competition for the first time in their history but Marlow is bracing himself for a stern challenge.

"Sibenik have been playing in Croatia's top league for three years and this is their maiden campaign in Europe," Marlow told The Times.

"Nevertheless, it's a known fact that the standard of Croatian football is significantly higher than ours. I'm expecting a difficult match against Sibenik but we're not facing an impossible task.

"We have to be cautious because we're playing the first leg away. It's imperative that we stay compact at the back and try to pose problems to Sibenik on the counter.

"The atmosphere in the squad is very positive and the players know what I expect from them."

Morale is high in the Sliema clan after the Blues had the better of Birkirkara and Valletta to win the pre-season Euro Cup tournament last week.

Marlow fielded several foreign players in Sliema's two Euro Cup matches but only four are in the squad for today's match, namely Hungarian goalkeeper Viktor Szentpeteri, Argentine forward Emiliano Lattes, Ivorian defender Souare Sekoutidane and Portuguese midfielder Andre Portulez.

In addition to the unavailability of Valdo Alhinho, of Portugal, and Nigerian forward Obinna Obiefule, Marlow is also plagued by the absence of defender Josef Mifsud (suspended) and Alex Muscat (injured).

Young winger Miguel Ciantar is doubtful as he has yet to fully recover from the hamstring strain he suffered during Sliema's 3-1 win over Birkirkara in the Euro Cup opener.

Marlow's formation is unlikely to differ much from the one he chose for the Euro Cup match against Valletta. Alhinho and Obiefule scored the goals that earned Sliema a 2-0 victory over the Citizens after both came off the bench at the start of the second half of Friday's warm-up at the Centenary Stadium.

Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza is expected to be deployed as a lone striker as Marlow is likely to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Yesterday evening, the Sliema squad trained at the venue of today's match. In the morning, the Blues had a light practice session on an artificial turf pitch near the main stadium in Dugopolje, on the outskirts of Split.

The Wanderers secured Malta's second and final berth in the Europa League after beating Qormi 2-0 in a third-place decider last month. Last year, Sliema succumbed to a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Israeli side Maccabi Netanya in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.

Sibenik qualified for the Europa League after finishing fourth in the Croatian league last season, 12 points adrift of champions Dinamo Zagreb.

The winner of the Sibenik-Sliema tie will face the winner of the match between Cyprus's Anorthosis Famagusta and Armenia's FC Banants in the second qualifying round.