St Patrick's Athletic failed to gain a psychological tonic ahead of their Europa League second qualifying round, first leg tie against Valletta this week after slumping to a 2-1 defeat to Galway United in an Irish league match on Friday night.

Ryan Guy gave St Patrick's the lead just before half-time but two goals in the second period from Jay O'Shea and Sean Kelly handed the three points to Galway United.

St Patrick's are sixth in the 10-team League of Ireland Premier Division with 23 points from 20 matches. Bohemians are top of the league with 41 points from 19 games.

Ton Caanen, Valletta's Dutch coach, watched Friday's match at Richmond Park, the venue of Thursday's Europa League match.

Caanen jetted to Ireland on Friday to have a close look at his team's next opponents after Valletta secured their place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League with a 2-2 draw away to Keflavik on Thursday. The Citizens qualified 5-2 on aggregate after beating the Icelandic team 3-0 in the first leg at the Centenary Stadium.

Having returned to Malta from Iceland on Friday afternoon, the Valletta players were back on the training pitch yesterday evening. In Caanen's absence, Jordi Cruyff, Valletta's Dutch player and assistant coach, took charge of yesterday's practice session.

Valletta are scheduled to travel to Ireland on Tuesday morning ahead of Thursday's encounter with St Patrick's (kick-off 8.45 p.m.).

Maccabi Netanya arrive today

Maccabi Netanya, Sliema Wanderers' opponents in the Europa League, are expected to land in Malta early this afternoon.

Maccabi Netanya's preparations for their second qualifying round match against Sliema included a pre-season training camp in Antalya during which the Israeli team played two friendly matches against Turkish teams.

The first leg of the Sliema-Maccabi Netanya match will be played at the Centenary Stadium on Tuesday (kick-off 5.45 p.m.).

Meanwhile, Alfred Attard, who stepped down as Sliema's assistant coach last week, has been appointed coach of Division One club St Patrick.

Attard replaces Winston Muscat who has reportedly taken over at Vittoriosa Stars. The latter won promotion to the Premier League last season.

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