West Ham United coach Slaven Bilic admitted that the 1-0 win over Birkirkara in London is too close for comfort but he expects his team to complete the job at the National Stadium tonight.

“The score was not ideal,” Bilic, who took over from Sam Allardyce last month, told reporters ahead of the second leg of West Ham’s Europa League second qualifying round game against Birkirkara.

“We were hoping to score more than one goal.

“I never said that these two games (against Birkirkara) were going to be like Andorra (West Ham beat Lusitans 4-0 on aggregate in the previous round).

“When I was a player, we played against Malta a couple of times and it was not easy. Once we even drew 1-1 at U-21 level. However, we are still favourites and I expect West Ham to go through.

“To get a better result than 1-0 (in a home match), we should have scored earlier, which we certainly deserved. In the end, we got a positive result, even if we had to wait until the 90th minute to get a goal.

“But, it should be okay here, especially if we score first.”

The majority of the fans will be supporting Birkirkara but Bilic is not expecting a hostile atmosphere.

“The Maltese people are very friendly,” Bilic said after seeing his team receive a very warm welcome at the Malta International Airport yesterday afternoon.

The West Ham boss is clearly taking today’s game seriously as, in his own words, he has brought “80 per cent, possibly more than that” of his best squad.

On Tuesday, West Ham, shorn of various regulars, lost 1-0 to Colchester in a friendly match.

The blazing heat in Malta is a concern for the Croatian but he has called on his players to adopt a smart approach.

“The heat will be a problem,” Bilic observed.

“When we landed here, it was a shock. I mean I speak to my family and children in Croatia every day and it’s the same there with temperatures of 37 and 38 degrees but it really felt like a sauna when we arrived in Malta.

“That’s going to be a problem for us but we’re good enough to cope. With respect to Birkirkara, I think we will dictate the tempo for 70 per cent of the game.

“Really, we shouldn’t go crazy in terms of running.”

Bilic said he was mostly im-pressed with Birkirkara’s collective work in last week’s first leg.

Unsurprisingly, he singled out Fabrizio Miccoli as Birkirkara’s most dangerous player but goalkeeper Justin Haber and defenders Mauricio Mazzetti and Nikola Vukanac also caught his eye.

Giovanni Tedesco, the Birkirkara coach, earlier spoke of his desire to raise the team’s attacking threat but Bilic is bracing himself for a defensive gameplan from the Stripes.

“I wish they (Birkirkara) change their approach but I don’t think so,” the former Besiktas coach said.

“It’s not only about Birkirkara... I don’t think many teams are going to change their approach and press West Ham. I’d prefer to see a more fluid rather than a one-sided game. The first leg was not totally one-sided but we were superior.

“If Birkirkara decide to attack at home, it would give them more opportunities to score but we will also have more chances if they open up.”

West Ham players training at the National Stadium.West Ham players training at the National Stadium.

Reports in England suggest that only 400 West Ham fans are travelling over to watch tonight’s game.

Expensive flights to Malta at this time of the year and overpriced tickets (45 euros for the visiting fans) are the two main reasons for the dearth of interest from the West Ham United supporters, it has been claimed.

Bilic said: “400 fans is not that bad, also considering who we are playing against.

“Of course, I would love them (West Ham supporters) to fill the stadium but this is not possible. Our fans have always been great and the most important thing is that enjoy themselves.

“As for the tickets, it’s not my job to talk about prices.”

In the third qualifying round, Birkirkara or West Ham will meet either Scottish side Inverness or Romania’s FC Astra Giurgiu.

Astra Giurgiu lead 1-0 after the first leg in Scotland.

Second qualifying round

Europa League – today’s second legs

  1st leg 2nd leg Agg
Aberdeen vs HNK Rijeka 3-0    
Alashkert FC vs Kairat Almaty  0-3    
Beitar Jerusalem vs Sporting Charleroi 1-5    
Birkirkara vs West Ham United 0-1    
Botosani vs Legia Warsaw 0-1    
Brondby IF vs Beroe 1-0    
Debrecen vs Skonto Riga  2-2    
Dinamo Minsk vs Cherno More Varna 1-1    
Elfsborg vs Randers FC  0-0 1-0 1-0
FC Astra Giurgiu vs Inverness C. Thistle 1-0    
FC Differdange 03 vs Trabzonspor  0-1    
FC Shirak vs AIK Stockholm 0-2    
FC Thun vs Hapoel Beer Sheva 1-1    
FK Qabala vs FK Cukaricki 0-1    
FK Spartaks vs Vojvodina 0-3    
Hajduk Split vs Koper 2-3    
IFK Goteborg vs Slask Wroclaw 0-0    
Inter Baku vs FH Hafnarfjordur 2-1    
Linfield vs Spartak Trnava 1-2    
Mladost Podgorica vs Kukesi 1-0    
Newtown vs FC Copenhagen 0-2    
Nomme JK Kalju vs FC Vaduz 1-3    
Odd Ballklubb vs Shamrock Rovers 2-0    
Omonia Nicosia vs Jagiellonia Białystok 0-0    
PAOK Thessaloniki vs Lokomotiv Zagreb 1-2    
Rabotnicki vs FK Jelgava 0-1    
Rosenborg vs KR Reykjavik 1-0    
Stromsgodset vs Mlada Boleslav 2-1    
Traku FK vs Apollon Limassol 0-4    
UCD vs Slovan Bratislava 0-1    
Wolfsberger vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1-0    
Zeljeznicar vs Ferencvaros 1-0    
Zilina vs Dacia Chisinau 2-1    

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