Dusan Fitzel is walking a tightrope. Having courted controversy with his shocking assertion that he'd be pleased if Malta were to limit Denmark to fewer than four goals in tonight's 2010 World Cup Group One qualifier, Fitzel is acutely aware that another humiliating outcome for the national team at the Parken Stadium would augment the pressure on him to get his act together.

Tonight's assignment is shaping up as an acid test for Fitzel and his embattled troops as they will be locking horns with a Danish team high on confidence after a 3-2 away win against group favourites Portugal in their last competitive outing.

By contrast, Malta have shipped in seven goals in losing heavily to Portugal at home and Albania in Tirana.

Memories of the outstanding win over Hungary (2-1) and the two-all draw against Turkey, not to mention the headline-spinning 7-1 hammering of Liechtenstein in a friendly last March, are fading fast and the only way for Malta to stem the wave of scepticism is to garner their first points in the next two qualifiers.

The possibility of Malta breaking their duck tonight looks remote but a creditable showing and a decent result would surely help to raise confidence ahead of Wednesday's home clash with Hungary.

Despite the negative vibes projected by Fitzel and the dismal start to the World Cup qualifying campaign, the atmosphere among the Malta squad here in Copenhagen is quite serene.

Yet, the demanding Fitzel has called on his charges to sharpen their focus on the match at hand.

"My feeling is that our players like to have fun and this is something that I can't take," Fitzel remarked.

"It's not that they don't work hard but they only want to enjoy the moment. I want them to focus on the match in a more professional way and devote more attention to the finer details of the game."

Fitzel has yet to put the finishing touches to his starting line-up. Gleaning indications from training about his first-team plans is next-to-impossible because the Czech likes to vary his formations in practice games.

What Fitzel did confirm was that he intends to make a few changes from the team that went down 3-0 to Albania.

"There will be a few changes but I still have to decide on four or five positions in the team," Fitzel said.

Ivan Woods, Ian Azzopardi and Udo Nwoko are three players who skipped the previous match for different reasons.

All three have been recalled and Fitzel suggested that they have a good chance of being involved.

Justin Haber looks a certainty to start in goal while in central defence Luke Dimech is set to be partnered by the lanky Aaron Xuereb who did reasonably well in Albania.

Azzopardi, who pulled out of Malta's previous qualifiers after his father fell seriously ill, is favourite to take patrolling duties on the left. The right-back role was filled by Roderick Briffa in Tirana but young defender Jonathan Caruana, back after recovering from injury, will occupy that position tonight, Fitzel confirmed.

The coach thinks highly of Caruana whose height gives him an advantage over most of the other contenders for a place in defence, especially for this match when Denmark's aerial threat will be significant.

In midfield, Jamie Pace and Gilbert Agius are set to retain their places but Briffa may also be considered as an alternative to the Malta captain.

With Kevin Sammut sidelined with injury and George Mallia out of the squad, the two wide positions in midfield are up for grabs.

Nwoko has looked sharp during training and could get Fitzel's nod to start on the left while Woods is a strong candidate to play on the right. Etienne Barbara is also in the frame for the left-midfield position as is Briffa for the other slot.

Up front, Fitzel is expected to stick with Michael Mifsud and Andrè Schembri.

Turning his attention to Denmark, Fitzel said:

"They are similar to Sweden. They have so many tall players in the team and like to play a direct game. In terms of creativity and short passing, they are not like Portugal but they can be very dangerous because they are fast and play a lot of long balls into the penalty area.

"Denmark normally play 4-4-1-1 with Nicklas Bendtner performing the role of target man in attack. Christian Poulsen is often deployed as a screening midfielder and Dennis Rommedahl is a superb dribbler."

Malta's head-to-head record against Denmark, and Scandinavian teams in general, leaves much to be desired but the last time the national team encountered the Danes, they left the Parken Stadium with their heads held high.

It was seven years ago and Malta flew into Copenhagen low on morale after a 3-0 defeat in Iceland in a World Cup 2002 qualifier.

Another drubbing beckoned, many contended, but this failed to materialise as Malta, inspired by a great performance from goalkeeper Ernest Barry, only lost by the odd goal in three.

When it was put to Fitzel that Malta were also going through a bumpy period when they played Denmark in 2001, the coach said: "I've talked to the players about it. Only four of the current squad were involved in that qualifier and I hope that those who were will feel that they can inspire the team to a similar performance.

"Every match starts 0-0, so anything is possible. I know it's going to be difficult but I encourage the players to go into the match with a positive attitude."

Fitzel's words earlier this week suggested otherwise but without a shred of doubt, the coach will be happy if the players will prove him wrong.

Past encounters

World Cup
24-03-01 Malta vs Denmark 0-5
06-06-01 Denmark vs Malta 2-1

Euro Championship
28-06-62 Denmark vs Malta 6-1
08-12-62 Malta vs Denmark 1-3

Rothmans Tournament
08-02-89 Malta vs Denmark 0-2

Friendly
25-01-58 Malta vs Denmark 3-0

Flashback: June 6, 2001, Parken Stadion

Denmark vs Malta 2-1

Denmark: Sorensen, Tofting (A. Nielsen), Henriksen, Gravesen, Heintze, Helveg, C. Jensen, Rommedahl (Gronkjaer), Tomasson (Nygaard), Jorgensen, Sand.

Malta: Barry, Said, Turner, Theuma, Debono, Dimech, Agius (Okoh), Camilleri, Mifsud, Brincat (Holland), Mallia (Nwoko).

Referee: S. Smolik (Belarus FA).

Scorers: Mallia 8; Sand 44, 83.

Probable line-ups

Malta
J. Haber, A. Xuereb, I. Azzopardi, J. Caruana, U. Nwoko (E. Barbara), L. Dimech, G. Agius (R. Briffa), M. Mifsud, I. Woods, A. Schembri, J. Pace.

Denmark
T. Sorensen, T. Rasmussen, D. Agger, M. Laursen, K. Bogelund, D. Jensen, C. Poulsen, J.D. Tomasson, T. Kahlenberg, D. Rommedahl, N. Bendtner.

Referee: L. Paniashvili (Georgia).

Kick-off: 20.00 (Parken Stadion).