Malta coach Pietro Ghedin has called on supporters to be Malta's 12th player in tomorrow's clash against Italy in Ta' Qali, and he demanded total commitment by his players after their dismal performance against Bulgaria.

Malta, he said, could not have performed any worse than it did last Friday, when it was defeated 6-0 away by Bulgaria. However the team had shown in previous months that  it could play much better and he hoped that would be the case tomorrow.

"We returned from Bulgaria with a heavy heart. We will try to improve on the few things we did right, he said."

The players, he said, had watched a video recording of their match with Bulgaria and held a frank discussion about it. 

The team had also watched highlights of the Italy-Brazil friendly as part of their preparations to face the Azzurri tomorrow. 

Ghedin is not expected to make drastic changes to the team, other than including midfielder Gareth Sciberras, who missed the game on Friday through injury.

The Italy team arrives in Malta this evening and will use VIP facilities at the airport. The players will go directly to Ta' Qali to view the pitch and hold a press conference.