Malta's preparations for tomorrow's qualifier against Israel continued yesterday in sweltering temperatures in Antalya, Turkey.

The training pitch of Antalyaspor was the venue for Malta's first training session yesterday morning.

Closely watched by a group of Turkish security officers, the Maltese players practised crosses and defending during a one-hour session. Michael Mifsud did not take part in training after picking up knocks on his feet while playing for Kaiserslautern amateurs against Saarbrucken on Saturday. The match ended 1-1.

Mifsud received treatment by Malta FA doctor David Attard. The 21-year-old striker was able to train yesterday evening and is expected to be fit for tomorrow's match.

Also absent from the morning training session was Carlo Mamo, the Sliema Wanderers left-back, who flew to Turkey in the early hours of yesterday. Mamo could not travel with the rest of the squad on Sunday due to other commitments.

Jeffrey Chetcuti, widely expected to be assigned the left-back role tomorrow, was involved in a very unusual incident during training as he was stung by a bee under his right eye.

Yesterday evening, the squad switched to the Ataturk Stadium, the venue of tomorrow's qualifier, for another training drill.

Held has yet to name his starting formation for the game.

Like Malta, Israel arrived in Antalya on Sunday. The Israelis have brought their own security personnel to supervise their movements but the Turkish authorities are also providing extra surveillance due to the threat of terrorism.

Israel are banned by UEFA from staging international matches in their country because of the Middle East conflict.

Last Saturday, Israel suffered a 3-1 defeat to Slovenia. Ari Nimni and Tal Ben-Haim were sent off late in that game and are suspended for tomorrow's game against Malta.