Malta coach Pietro Ghedin has named three new players in his final 23-man squad for Sunday’s Euro 2016 away qualifier against Bulgaria.
Floriana midfielders Clyde Borg and Brooke Farrugia and Owen Bugeja, the Tarxien Rainbows defender, have earned their first call-up to the senior squad which is flying out to Sofia in the early hours of tomorrow.
Borg was only drafted into the squad on Wednesday as a replacement for Birkirkara’s Ryan Scicluna who failed to recover from injury.
Captain Michael Mifsud, the country’s all-time leading scorer, is suspended after his red card in the 1-0 defeat to Italy while defender Steve Borg is also out as he must serve the last of a three-game ban following his dismissal in the opening 2-0 loss to Croatia in September.
Otherwise, there were no major surprises in Ghedin’s selection.
Sliema Wanderers Clifford Gatt Baldacchino has been ruled out with injury while Balzan goalkeeper Steve Sultana has been dropped.
Malta have lost to Croatia (0-2), Norway (0-3) and Italy (0-1) in their opening three Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Bulgaria only have three points from their first three games. After opening their campaign with a 2-1 win away to Azerbaijan, Bulgaria suffered back-to-back defeats at home to Croatia (0-1) and away to Norway (1-2).