A new year offers fresh hope and Sliema Wanderers are keeping their fingers crossed that 2010 heralds an upsurge in their fortunes after their travails in the BOV Premier League in the final three months of 2009.
Back-to-back defeats to Msida St Joseph and Qormi have cranked up the pressure on Sliema who are desperate for a win to dispel talk of crisis and put their season back on track. However, the task awaiting the Blues in their first assignment of 2010 is a daunting one as they will be up against title favourites Valletta who are on a high after crushing rivals Floriana 4-0 in their last outing.
A lively performance in a 45-minute match against Serie A outfit Parma during Wednesday's Christmas Cup at the Hibs Stadium has further enhanced Valletta's optimism ahead of their clash with Sliema.
"The main thing for Valletta is to stay on track," Ton Caanen, the Valletta coach, told The Times.
"Our results in the past few weeks have been positive as we drew 1-1 with Birkirkara and beat Floriana 4-0. January is an interesting month for Valletta because we have a sequence of important games. After Sliema, we will face Msida, who were the first team to take a point from us, and then Qormi, the leaders.
"This month will present a challenge for our team to show how good we are and how far we have come since the start of the season. Confidence is high in our camp and I believe we can do a good job in our next matches."
Striker Ian Zammit is still sidelined with a knee injury but otherwise, Caanen has no selection problems. New signing Declan O'Brien, who scored Valletta's goal in the 3-1 defeat to Parma, is expected to be available to face Sliema tomorrow as the Citizens are hopeful of completing the Irish striker's registration at the Malta FA today.
Looking back on 2009, Caanen said Valletta's near misses in the Premier League and FA Trophy should strengthen their resolve to achieve success in 2010.
"On New Year's Eve we had a meeting in which we spoke about the team's results in 2009," Caanen said.
"Valletta were very disappointed at their failure to win the league and the cup. In 2009, the team also produced some excellent showings and I told the players that if they show 70 per cent of the mentality they displayed in the games against Keflavik, St Patrick's and Parma, Valletta will surely fulfil their aims this season.
"After the game against Parma, their coach commented favourably about our performance. He was pleased that Valletta made an effort to play positive football."
Switching his focus to the clash with Sliema, Caanen has backed the Blues to turn their season around.
"Sliema are potential contenders for the title," Caanen said.
"Every season, there are teams that create a surprise and here Qormi and Birkirkara have exceeded expectations so far. But there are also teams who surprise in a negative way and Sliema have been disappointing so far.
"That said, I believe that, come the end of the season, Sliema will be among the top teams. They have signed two new foreigners and that will give them an injection of confidence."
Sliema have signed Argentine striker Julio Alcorse and Brazilian playmaker Pedrinho this week to boost their firepower. But, the Wanderers have given up hope of fielding Alcorse in tomorrow's match as his international transfer certificate (ITC) is not expected to be received before Tuesday. The Blues are hoping that Pedrinho, who last played in Israel, will get his ITC today as that make him eligible to face Valletta.
Stephen Azzopardi, the Sliema coach, must cope without Clayton Failla, suspended, but is hoping to recover Ryan Fenech who missed last week's 2-1 defeat to Qormi with an ankle problem. Winger Matthew Bartolo is also closing in on a return.
"Every game is very important for our team at this stage, irrespective of the name and pedigree of the opposition," Azzopardi said.
"This is not the best time for us to meet Valletta, given the difficulties we've had in our last few matches. Had we taken maximum points from our last two games, we would have approached this test in a better frame of mind. We've failed to deliver against Msida and Qormi and that increases the need for us to put in an extra effort against Valletta."
Azzopardi is under increasing pressure to steady ship but he still has the backing of the club.
"I'm hopeful that the team will come through this difficult spell soon," Azzopardi said.
"We believe that this team will start to show its true potential in the next weeks and months but the biggest test for everyone at Sliema is how we cope with the growing pressure."
First round - Valletta vs Sliema 1-0.