Birkirkara vs West Ham United still sounds like a gross mismatch, on paper at least, but coach Giovanni Tedesco is not ready to throw in the towel.
Having seen his men battle bravely to restrict West Ham to a single goal in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie at Upton Park, Tedesco is cautiously upbeat that Birkirkara can pull off an upset in tonight’s home leg but he readily acknow-ledges that his team must pose more of a threat in attack.
“We will try to be more purposeful in attack than we were in the first leg,” Tedesco told the pre-match news conference.
“That said, the great performance of my players last week deserve to be applauded.
“It was certainly not easy for them to play against an important team like West Ham and in front of 34,000 spectators.
“We did give away a few chances to West Ham towards the end but this was to be expected. To my knowledge, even great sides like Chelsea and Manchester City have lost in that stadium and for us to produce such a performance is a source of immense pride.
“At home, we will try to be more constructive though.
“Even if the match last week ended goalless, it would have changed little as we would still have required to score here to have a chance.
“But these are secondary matters. It’s more important for us to try and emulate our performance in last week’s game as well as when we beat Ulisses FC away.
“These kind of games have to become the norm for our players if we really want to go forward.”
Tedesco is not expected to make significant changes from the first leg but he may opt to start with Vito Plut alongside Fabrizio Miccoli in attack.
The Italian coach revealed that captain Paul Fenech, midfielder Rowen Muscat and Miccoli are carrying knocks but their chances of recovering look good.
Buoyed by the FA Trophy win and their uplifting experience in the Europa League so far, Bir-kirkara have signalled their intent to produce a robust challenge for the league title by signing a host of players.
Besides Miccoli, their stellar signing, Tedesco has also brought in Plut, Bosnian striker Edin Murga and Brazilian midfielder Emerson Marcelina, signed last week from Floriana.
Although Tedesco declared himself pleased with his current squad, he suggested that Birkirkara’s transfer activity is not over yet.
“I’m very happy with the players I have,” Tedesco said.
“I speak a lot with the committee and we all know that the season is long and tough. As I have already said, football in Malta is growing.
“There is a positive movement as our games in Europe and Hibs’ victory the other week have shown.
“I’m satisfied with the squad at my disposal at this moment in time.”
Miccoli echoed Tedesco’s optimism when asked if he believed Birkirkara can cause an upset tonight.
“If we didn’t believe, we wouldn’t be here,” the 36-year-old said.
“We played a good first leg. It was a difficult match and this one will also be tough but in football, strange things can happen.”
Having joined Birkirkara only three weeks ago, Miccoli seems settled in his new environs.
He said: “When I arrived here, the other players treated me like one of their own, they made me feel welcome straightaway.
“I feel okay and I hope that I can give a massive contribution to do something important here be-cause the lads deserve it. I’m prepared to give my all to help them achieve their objectives.”
Probable teams
Birkirkara: J. Haber, M. Mazzetti, R. Camenzuli, P. Fenech, F. Miccoli, N. Vukanac, V. Plut, Liliu, J. Zerafa, Z. Muscat, R. Muscat.
West Ham: Adrian, W. Reid, A. Cresswell, K. Nolan, J. Tomkins, M. Jarvis, M. Zarate, M. Noble, J. O’Brien, D. Payet, M. Samuelson.
Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania).
Kick-off: 8.45pm – National Stadium.