Naxxar Lions skipper Victor Bellia (right) tussles for the ball with Luke Sciberras, of Balzan.

Naxxar Lions can secure a top-six position in the BOV Premier League with victory over Balzan at the Hibs Stadium, this afternoon (kick-off 2pm).

Winston Muscat’s team are currently sixth in the standings, five points clear of Balzan and six ahead of Floriana with only three matches left to the conclusion of the first phase.

However, the Lions’ task today is anything but easy as they face a Balzan side who have hauled themselves back in contention for the Championship Pool following back-to-back victories over Flo-riana and Qormi.

Muscat’s team are coming from a 7-1 drubbing to champions Birkirkara even though they partially made up for that setback with a passage to the FA Trophy quarter-finals after beating Flo-riana 1-0 on Wednesday.

The Lions coach admitted Balzan will be difficult opponents but is urging his players to forget all about the Birkirkara match and finish off the job to avoid getting embroiled in a tense finale to the second round.

“This is a must-win match for us,” Muscat told Times of Malta yesterday.

“We are just one win away from reaching our pre-season goal. We all worked really hard to put ourselves in this position and now we know we can complete our task with something to spare, too.

“Obviously, it will not be easy as Balzan have made significant progress in the second round.

“Also, the margin of defeat in our previous league match was a shock but, I guess, it was also a timely wake-up call for our players.

“It made us realise that if we are to play in the top six we need to step up our game. The response on the training pitch was excellent and that was mirrored by the excellent showing against Floriana in the FA Trophy.”

Muscat has no injury concerns so he is expected to field his strongest formation this afternoon.

Balzan, too, are expected to be at full strength after coach Jesmond Zerafa received a clean bill of health following the shoot-out defeat to Sliema in the cup in midweek.

Naxxar may look favourites to claim the last place in the Cham-pionship Pool but Zerafa contends that his team will keep pushing and hope the other contenders slip up in the straight for home.

“For us, the Championship Pool is difficult proposition but not impossible,” Zerafa said.

“Naxxar may have opened a good advantage at this crucial stage of the championship but a win for us this weekend could see us back in it.

“We’ll keep pushing to the end knowing Naxxar have two difficult matches coming up, against Mosta and Hibs.

“I’m satisfied with the perfor-mances of the team this month and we’re confident of a victory against Naxxar to keep our hopes alive.”

The arrival of goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo and midfield duo Pedrinho and Edison Bilbao Zarate this month have given Balzan some much-needed stabi-lity in the team.

Zerafa said that if they had to play in the Relegation Pool, Balzan still have enough quality to keep themselves out of the drop zone.

“The new players have given us an added dimension,” Zerafa said.

“The team is strong in every department now but we need to get as many points as possible from our last three matches to keep hoping.

“Also, we want to start with a good cushion if we’ll end up in the Relegation Pool to have a quiet second phase and stay out of trouble.”

First round result: Balzan vs Naxxar 0-3.