Marsaxlokk will be on a damage-limitation mission this evening in Croatia when they face Slaven Koprivnica (Belupo) in the second leg of their UEFA Cup first qualifying round tie (kick-off 8.15 p.m.).
The qualification issue was effectively decided two weeks ago at Ta' Qali when the vastly superior Slaven cruised to a 4-0 victory to all but secure their presence at tomorrow's draw for the second qualifying round of the competition.
Having been outplayed in the home match, Marsaxlokk will be wary about taking on Slaven at the Gradski Stadium but the Blues have set themselves the rather mundane target of avoiding another drubbing.
The Marsaxlokk contingent, headed by coach Brian Talbot, flew out to Croatia yesterday. William Camenzuli was in Marsaxlokk's travelling party as he is available to play today after suspension kept him out of the first leg.
With Talbot very likely to opt for a defensive gameplan tonight, Camenzuli is set to be given a starting role. Otherwise, Talbot is not expected to make significant changes to the team that started the first-leg match.
Peter Hartshorne, Talbot's assistant, told The Times that Marsaxlokk intend to use today's match as part of their build-up for the domestic league.
"The tie is over in terms of qualification," Hartshorne said. "There are no doubts as to which team is going to progress to the next round after Slaven beat us 4-0 at Ta' Qali. Nevertheless, this match could still prove useful for us as we continue our preparations for the league campaign."
Three goals inside the opening 34 minutes underlined Slaven's technical and physical superiority over Marsaxlokk in the first leg but Hartshorne rejected the view that the Maltese side's performance on the night was very poor.
"I don't agree with suggestions that Marsaxlokk played very bad in the home leg," Hartshorne said.
"The truth is that Slaven have a strong team and they were better than us. We were also behind our opponents in terms of physical fitness but we now have another 15 days of training under our belt and I hope this is reflected in a better display in the second leg.
"Our aim is to prevent Slaven from recording another high-scoring victory but more importantly, we want the players to get maximum benefit from this match as part of our preparations for the start of the league campaign."
Last weekend, Slaven opened their 2008-09 league commitments with a goalless draw away to Cibalia.
Referee: Vusal Aliyev (Azerbaijan).