Malta v Republic of Ireland: Sunday November 20th, Ta’ Qali National Stadium, kick-off 8pm (7pm Irish time), live on RTÉ
Stephen Kenny hopes Ireland can prise open the Maltese defence on Sunday – after his side were locked out of training at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium in Malta yesterday.
The Ireland boss was frustrated by the refusal of the hosts to allow his players train on the pitch where Sunday’s international friendly takes place. The customary arrangement for teams to have access to a session at the match venue was not afforded to Ireland, as Malta stated some areas of the pitch had been reseeded.
Ireland did raise the matter with Uefa, but to no avail, and while they were out at the stadium last night Kenny’s men had to train on an adjacent pitch.
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“That’s never happened before,” said the Ireland manager. “I’ve never had that, even in European games. They’ve said we can’t use the stadium, the pitch looked fine in the match I’ve seen, but we’re not allowed train on it, we’ve got to train at a training ground here out the back.”
Ireland were made aware of the situation during the week but had hoped the matter could be resolved. Malta played out a 2-2 draw with Greece at the venue on Thursday.
Sunday’s international friendly will be the eighth senior fixture between the countries, with Ireland winning the previous seven. Kenny will be making changes to his side with Seamus Coleman starting at the back, while he has also hinted at a goalkeeping switch and possibly some reshuffling around the middle of the field.
Malta, currently under interim manager Gilbert Agius, were moments away from a victory over Greece on Thursday only for the visitors to snatch an 86th minute equaliser. Kenny is expecting a tricky evening but the Ireland manager is determined his men finish out the year with a win.
“We haven’t been consistent with results for sure and we would like to finish on a win, that’s the intention,” he said. “We’ve no divine right to do that, their recent results have shown they have a way of playing and are well drilled and well organised.
“We’ve watched their recent games, they’re an improved team. For us, we expect a tough game but we want to finish the season on a high. We want to finish the season with a win. That’s what we want to do and intend doing.”
