Malta coach Pietro Ghedin has urged his players to show more confidence in their final Euro 2016 Group H qualifier against Croatia tomorrow at the National Stadium (kick-off 8.45pm).

With Croatia needing a win and hoping for a Norway defeat in their away game against Italy, Malta are in for another difficult game, moreso as it comes only three days after their 2-0 loss in Oslo.

"I expect a good performance from my team," Ghedin told a news conference this afternoon.

"The players are tired because the trip was quite long.

"We need to recover quickly.

"Today we have analysed our game against Norway. We made some mistakes which we will try to rectify in the coming game.

"Overall, the team's showing was positive.

"Norway's first goal came when Alex Muscat was on the sidelines receiving medical attention.

"I'm proud of my squad because the players are giving their maximum."

Ghedin is not expected to make drastic changes from Saturday's defeat. He also confirmed that he will stick with a five-man defence, adding that there is little time to experiment with tactics after the national squad's training scheme was scrapped two years ago.

Croatia are sure to be without Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic while Real Madrid midfielder Luke Modric is also likely to miss out after suffering an injury in their 3-0 home win over Bulgaria last weekend.

Ghedin shrugged off suggestions that the absence of Mandzukic and Modric is a plus for Malta as he stressed that Croatia have one of the strongest squads in Europe.

"Croatia have a very good squad, one of the best in Europe," Ghedin said.

"Their players are very technical. They like one-two football and know how to play in tight spaces.

"They have great players and great personalities."

Croatia are third in Group H on 17 points, two behind Norway. Italy have already secured qualification for the Euro 2016 finals, to be staged in France.

Malta have two points from nine qualifiers.