[attach id=235792 size="medium"]Floriana’s Clyde Borg (left) in a tackle on Jonathan Caruana, of Valletta. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier[/attach]

Champions Valletta will have their sights set on the top position in the BOV Premier League standings tonight (kick-off: 8pm) as they clash in the derby against rivals Floriana in the last match from the regular season before the split between the top six and the Relegation Pool candidates.

Hibs’ failure to see off Tarxien Rainbows on Monday has given the Citizens, currently two points adrift of the Paolites, the opportunity to jump into first place provided they lower the colours of Floriana at the National Stadium.

To reach their goal, Valletta will have to improve on their abject display in their last league showing when it had to be a late goal from new signing Aboubakar Bello-Osagie that earned the Citizens a 1-1 draw against ten-man Balzan.

“Matches against Floriana are always massive and this game has added significance as we can go top of the league which is crucial ahead of the Championship Pool,” Miller told The Times yesterday.

“Our performance against Balzan was very disappointing.

“The players’ approach was not up to scratch and our concen-tration levels were rather poor. This will be a tricky match and we must be at our optimal levels to avoid any upsets and get the points we need.”

Striker Daniel Bogdanovic, who is struggling with an ankle injury, will probably miss today’s match while goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo (ankle), Michael Mifsud (flu) and Bello-Osagie (hamstring) are rated as doubtful.

Floriana coach Iain Brunskill will be leading the team from the bench for the first time since being ap-pointed as replacement for Stephen Azzopardi.

Brunskill already saw his team beating Hibs 1-0 from the stands earlier this month. However, that result was overturned following a successful Hibs protest over the eligibility of Harry Agombar.

But Brunskill is now concen-trating on the derby and despite being a relative newcomer to Maltese football, the former Black-burn coach has quickly gathered information on the prestige of the Floriana-Valletta clashes.

“People at the club say that this is the big match here,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s going to be very tough for us. Valletta are a great team with international players while our squad is composed mostly of youngsters who work hard but lack big-game experience.

“But, I’m confident my boys will rise to the challenge and, hopefully, get a positive result.”

Agombar and Brazilian striker Rodrigo Branco are no longer available for Floriana as Brunskill must run the rule on Thomas Paris and Joseph Borg who are strug-gling with niggling injuries.

First round result: Valletta vs Floriana 2-0.

Birkirkara-Ħamrun

In today’s opening match, Birkirkara will be all out to close the gap with the Premier League pacesetters when they take on struggling Ħamrun (kick-off: 6pm).

The 2-1 victory over Qormi has restored some lost confidence in the Stripes after dropping precious points in their previous outing against Sliema (0-0).

Birkirkara will need no re-minding against the dangers of being complacent against the Spartans after the surprising 3-1 win for the Reds in the corres-ponding first round fixture.

Birkirkara must do without defender Joseph Zerafa and midfielder Paul Fenech who must serve a one-match ban.

Ħamrun, on their part, welcome back Loic Lumbilla. The French striker missed the 2-0 defeat to Sliema for personal reasons. However, David Camilleri and Daniel Zerafa are both doubtful with knee trouble.

First round result: Ħamrun vs Birkirkara 3-1.

Current standings