Malta are to play a friendly match against Ukraine, in Austria, on June 6 as part of their preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier away to Slovenia on June 10.

The friendly was announced by Angelo Chetcuti, general secretary of the Malta Football Association, during a council meeting yesterday afternoon.

National coach Pietro Ghedin is expected to name a provisional squad in the coming weeks ahead of the start of the build-up for the Ukraine friendly and the Slovenia qualifier four days later.

In their last Group F qualifier, played on March 26, Malta suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Slovakia despite turning in a bright performance, especially in the opening half.

The national team are still without a point after five qualifiers including matches against Scotland (1-5), at home, and England (2-0), at Wembley Stadium.

Coached by former Milan legend Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine have drawn their first two qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey and took maximum points from their next matches against Kosovo and Finland.

Their latest game was in Zagreb – a 1-0 defeat to Croatia. They occupy third place in the group standings with eight points after five matches.

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