Birkirkara had little time to dwell on their FA Trophy setback to Qormi on Wednesday as they shifted focus back on the Premier League and a tricky test against Sliema Wanderers tomorrow (kick-off: 4pm).
These last couple of days were rather awkward for Birkirkara as the cup competition exit left them with the championship as their only source of silverware this season.
Coach Paul Zammit must have dedicated most of his time since Wednesday talking with his players and urging them to regain some lost confidence as victory over the Wanderers is a must to keep the pace with the other two front-runners – Valletta and Hiber-nians.
However, beating Sliema will be a difficult proposition as the Blues are desperate to end a bleak run of two defeats that left them with more work to do to book their place among the elite top six teams.
Gareth Sciberras, the Birkirkara captain, admitted that the cup exit was an unexpected shock and is now appealing to his team-mates to put the upset behind them and beat Sliema to keep their league campaign on track.
“Few people expected us to lose against Qormi, especially after beating Mosta so comfortably in our previous match,” Sciberras told The Times.
“What happened in the two matches can easily be described. Against Mosta we took all chances that came our way while against Qormi we didn’t do that.
“Now it’s important for us to forget all about our last match in the FA Trophy. We cannot afford to drop points at this stage as we must start the Championship Pool in contention and in touch with the leaders. We have enough talent in the team to sustain our challenge and I’m sure we can bounce back against Sliema.”
Coach Zammit is sure to make one change from the team that lost to Qormi as defender Nikola Vukanac must serve a one-match ban following his dismissal at the Centenary Stadium but otherwise the Stripes can bank on a full squad.
Sliema, currently four points clear of seventh-placed Balzan, will be in no mood for favours as they seek to make it a double on Birkirkara following the 3-1 win in the first round.
Veteran striker Ivan Woods, scorer of nine goals this season, is confident the Wanderers can do the job tomorrow.
“We’ve shown on various occasions this season that at Sliema there’s desire and great will to do well even against the top teams,” Woods said.
“Birkirkara will be all out to make up for their Trophy defeat but we have our own ‘to-do list’ and top of that is three points from this match.
“True, we looked somewhat weak in front of goal lately but new additions in our forward department will help to ease the problem.”
In fact, this week Sliema com-pleted the on-loan signing of Ian Zammit from Valletta.
The 26-year-old is expected to fill the void left by Italian Luigi Ruggiero who starts a two-match ban this weekend.
Goalkeeper Henry Bonello remains sidelined with ankle trouble so Glenn Zammit will again guard the Blues’ goal.
First round: Sliema Wanderers vs Birkirkara 3-1.
Calabretta rejoins Tarxien, Kardeck released
Rabat Ajax vs Floriana (today 2pm, National Stadium).
Floriana start life without Stephen Azzopardi this afternoon as they look to end a troublesome week on a better note when they play bottom-placed Rabat.
The past seven days have been anything but easy in the Greens’ camp.
A goalless draw against Melita was followed by a shock defeat to Lija in the FA Trophy and that spelt the end of Azzopardi’s time as coach.
The team is currently under the charge of assistant coach Gary Howard who faces a tough job to lift the players’ morale. Today, he can bank on a full squad.
Rabat, buoyed by last week’s 1-1 draw against Balzan and the 5-0 cup victory over Sannat Lions, will look to profit from their opponents’ troubles to gain valuable points in the fight against the drop.
Rabat will have new signing Malcolm Licari in the squad. The utility man joined the Magpies after he was released by his former club Balzan.
Defender Patrick Borg is back from suspension for the Magpies.
First round: Floriana vs Rabat Ajax 3-0.
Valletta vs Ħamrun Spartans (today 4pm, National Stadium).
Leaders Valletta will fancy their chances of making it four league wins in a row when they play the struggling Reds.
The Citizens, through to the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy, seem to have regained poise in recent weeks and coach Mark Miller will be keen to see the team stretching the winning run.
City’s Roderick Briffa is nursing a quad muscle injury and joins Steve Borg in the treatment room. Denni must sit out this match to serve suspension.
Stefan Sultana, the Ħamrun coach, will have new signing Emiliano Lattes available but he is concerned with the fitness of striker Loic Lumbilla who is struggling with a strained hamstring.
First round: Ħamrun Spartans vs Valletta 2-8.
Hibs vs Balzan (tomorrow 2pm, Hibs Stadium).
This could be a tight affair with both sides needing all points to enhance their ambitions.
The Paolites cannot afford any lapses to keep up the heat on leaders Valletta who they trail by a single point.
Coach Michael Woods is boosted by the return of striker Marcelo Dias but Allan Kardeck will not be available as the Brazilian was released by the club after hitting one of Hibs’ goals in a 4-0 cup win over Gudja United on Tuesday.
Balzan have their fair share of formation problems as they look to keep alive their slim hopes of a Championship Pool berth.
Injured duo Jonathan Francica and Pedrinho are facing a few weeks on the sidelines while Yessous Camilleri and Aaron Agius must serve suspension.
Yesterday, Balzan were still hopeful of registering Ivory Coast striker Elie Moises Akui N’dekre in time to play against Hibs.
First round: Balzan vs Hibs 2-3.
Melita vs Tarxien Rainbows (Monday 6pm, Tedesco Stadium).
Tarxien Rainbows cannot miss beating the Amateurs to edge closer to Championship Pool football.
Last week, Tarxien saw their top-six ambitions suffer a severe blow after they conceded a last-gasp goal in a 1-2 upset to Qormi.
Tarxien will have new signing Gianluca Calabretta in their squad. Yesterday, the speedy winger returned for a second spell at the club on loan from Ħamrun until the end of the season. Orosco Anonam and Steve Bonnici, however, are both suspended.
Patxi Salinas, the Melita coach, will serve the second of a three-match ban on Monday as the side will have to do without Nigel Rizzo and Julian Galea who are injured.
First round: Tarxien Rainbows vs Melita 2-0.
Qormi vs Mosta (Monday 8.15pm, Tedesco Stadium).
Qormi will look to sustain their late push for a top-six berth when they take on fourth-placed Mosta in the last fixture from Match-day 20.
Victory over Tarxien saw Qormi stay in contention for Cham-pionship Pool football as Jesmond Zerafa’s men showed their intentions of a bold fightback at this stage of the campaign by eliminating the more-quoted Bir-kirkara from the FA Trophy on Wednesday.
Zerafa has no selection worries for a match against a psycho-logically-battered Mosta team that went down 7-1 to Birkirkara in their last outing.
Mosta coach Steve D’Amato is still without some regulars as Jonathan Bajada joined Alex Cini Steve Bezzina, Kurt Zammit and Obinna Obiefule on the sidelines.
Kurt Magro will be making his debut after joining the Blues on loan from Valletta but Fabio Vignaroli’s first match was still in doubt yesterday as Mosta waited for the Italian’s international transfer clearance.
First round result: Mosta vs Qormi 4-2.