[attach id=242690 size="medium"]Andre Schembri... set for trip to Sofia today.[/attach]

Pietro Ghedin yesterday named his 18-man squad for the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria, in Sofia, on Friday.

The Malta coach’s selection offers no big surprises as the Italian has largely kept faith with his tried-and-trusted personnel.

Ghedin will have been relieved to learn that all his players reported for training on Monday with no fresh injury concerns after last weekend’s Premier League matches, in particular the top-of-the-table clash between Birkirkara and Valletta as the majority of the national squad members are on the books of these two clubs.

In choosing his travelling party for Sofia, Ghedin will surely have had an eye on the home clash with Italy only four days after Friday’s assignment in Sofia.

Experienced players like captain Michael Mifsud, Luke Dimech, Andrew Cohen and Gareth Sciberras form the backbone of the Malta squad for a match that will be played behind closed doors as Bulgaria have been sanctioned by FIFA after their fans hurled racist remarks at a Denmark player during another World Cup qualifier in October.

The three foreign-based players in Ghedin’s squad, Enosis Paralimni goalkeeper Andrew Hogg, Latina defender Andrei Agius and Omonia Nicosia forward Andre Schembri, have already joined up with their team-mates ahead of the trip to the Bulgarian capital this morning.

Birkirkara midfielder Rowen Muscat has been rewarded for his positive showing in his side’s 2-0 win over Valletta with a place in the 18-man squad.

Meanwhile, Valletta players Roderick Briffa, Daniel Bogdanovic and Jonathan Caruana have all been recalled to the squad after injury kept them out of the goalless draw against Northern Ireland in last month’s friendly.

Shawn Bajada, Joseph Zerafa, Terence Vella and Jacob Borg failed to make the cut, however.

Malta are still without a point in Group B after losing all their opening three qualifiers.

In their last competitive outing, back in October, the national team went down 3-1 to the Czech Republic in Plzen.

Bulgaria held the Czechs to a goalless draw in their last qualifier to take their tally to six points in four games. They are second in the group, four points behind Italy.

Malta 18-man squad

Goalkeepers: Justin Haber (Birkirkara), Andrew Hogg (Enosis Paralimni).

Defenders: Andrei Agius (Latina), Ryan Camilleri (Hibernians), Clayton Failla (Hibernians), Luke Dimech (Valletta), Jonathan Caruana (Valletta), Alex Muscat (Sliema).

Midfielders: Roderick Briffa (Valletta), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Edward Herrera (Birkirkara), Gareth Sciberras (Birkirkara), Rowen Muscat (Birkirkara).

Forwards: Daniel Bogdanovic (Valletta), Michael Mifsud (Valletta), Andrew Cohen (Hibernians), Andre Schembri (Omonia Nicosia).