With the opening Euro 2016 qualifier against Croatia only six days away, Malta will be looking to secure a morale-booster in the shape of a spirited showing when they meet Slovakia in a friendly at Zilina’s Stadion pod Dubnom this evening (kick-off 18.20).

Today’s warm-up offers Malta coach Pietro Ghedin the chance to gauge the fitness and form of his players but the Italian will also be dissecting his team’s performance from a tactical point of view if, as expected, he goes for a 3-5-2-cum-5-3-2 formation.

‘Three at the back’ has become the buzzword in coaching parlance and the Malta players have been working on this new approach since reporting back for training with Ghedin late last week.

“In defence, I’m planning to field three in the centre and two wide players,” Ghedin told Times of Malta.

“We have tried this system all week during training. I’m hopeful but we will see.

“I need to ask the players if they are comfortable playing with three at the back.

“Many of them are familiar with it as they play in this formation for their clubs.

“It gives us added protection. We will have three players in midfield and two strikers.”

While Ghedin generally deployed five at the back, with two fast wing-backs, during his first spell as Malta coach in the mid-nineties, he has stuck with 4-2-3-1 since returning to the helm of the national team two years ago.

The experienced tactician briefly experimented with 4-3-3 but he appears to have ditched this module after Malta’s lame showing in the 1-0 defeat to Gibraltar in a June friendly.

Ghedin pointed at the diminishing number of home-grown wingers as one of the reasons behind the imminent switch to a three-man defence.

“I had to consider alternative tactics,” Ghedin explained.

“In Malta, there are no natural wingers... the wide, attacking players are all foreigners.

“Before, we had the likes of Daniel Bogdanovic who could play on the wing but these players are getting old now and the ones coming through do not provide assurances because this is a very demanding role that requires speed, tactical awareness and a lot of stamina.

“In the friendly against Gibraltar, we tried Ryan Fenech and Andrè Schembri on the wings but the outcome was negative.”

Apart from the tactical shift, Ghedin’s selection demonstrates his desire to inject new blood as a host of Under-21 players, namely Hibs midfielder Bjorn Kristensen, Birkirkara duo Zach Muscat and Ryan Scicluna, striker Jean Paul Farrugia, currently playing on loan with Slovakian club Spartak Trnava, and Floriana forward Steve Pisani have been included in the squad for today’s friendly and Tuesday’s qualifier in Zagreb.

“The atmosphere is good,” Ghedin said.

“We have talked at length and clarified a few concepts.

“We have also brought some youngsters into the squad, the likes of Kristensen, Pisani, Scicluna, Muscat and Farrugia.

“These are five players from the U-21s and I believe their selection represents a step forward for us as we are investing in the future.”

Ghedin is aware of the size of the task awaiting his team in the upcoming double-header.

Self-belief

“Slovakia and Croatia are both very strong but we are going there to battle,” Ghedin said.

“We want to give a good account of ourselves but to do this we need to believe. I’m convinced that we can do well but the right phrase is we can not but hope.”

Led by Jan Kozak, Slovakia have been drawn in Euro 2016 Group C along with Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg.

They finished third behind Bosnia and Greece in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

The Malta coach is not concerned about the effect a poor result in today’s friendly might have on the players’ confidence ahead of the trip to Croatia.

“We are prepared,” Ghedin said.

“In the second game, we tend to play better. I don’t believe that our performance against Slovakia will affect our morale for the qualifier. The players look very motivated.”

Ghedin is expected to field an experienced team today with Andrew Hogg set to start in goal and Jonathan Caruana, Ryan Camilleri and Andrei Agius filling the three central defensive roles.

Steve Borg and Clayton Failla will man the flanks while in midfield, Ghedin is likely to opt for Paul Fenech, Rowen Muscat and Ryan Fenech but Kristensen may also be in the running for a starting slot.

Andrè Schembri will play off Michael Mifsud in attack.

After landing in Slovakia in the early hours of yesterday morning, the Malta national squad had a training session in Zilina in the evening.

Malta line-up (probable)
A. Hogg, J. Caruana, A. Agius, R. Camilleri, S. Borg, C. Failla, P. Fenech, R. Fenech, R. Muscat, M. Mifsud, A. Schembri.