National coach Horst Heese is banking on his young squad to obtain a somewhat good result against Hungary this evening, despite the fact that he will have three key players missing.

These are defender Luke Dimech, midfielder and captain Gilbert Agius and striker Michael Mifsud.

Mifsud is ruled out through injury, Dimech has been reluctantly granted permission to play for his club Chester in England while Gilbert Agius is suspended for today’s match.

Heese has always been optimistic and even without these three ‘giants’, he remains optimistic that his young squad members can all rise to the occasion and produce a similar performance to that which stopped Northern Ireland in mid-August at Ta’ Qali.

However, Heese also acknowledges the fact that this will also be a difficult clash for Malta. During a midweek news conference, he said he had never expected Hungary to do so well in this qualifying round, having already obtained eight points.

It is likely that Massimo Grima will be substituting Gilbert Agius in midfield. Heese confirmed that he was preparing the Valletta man to play the role of his team-mate who had performed brilliantly in the match against N. Ireland in August.

Moreover, Heese also indicated that it might be Kenneth Scicluna, a former Under 21 player, who will be taking Luke Dimech’s place at the back. The Birkirkara youngster played the final 25 minutes against N. Ireland and came out with flying colours, earning a lot of praise from the German coach in the process.

Otherwise, Heese is not expected to make any radical changes to the side that figured against the Irish.

Barring any last minute injuries, Malta’s formation this evening should be the following:

J. Haber, P. Pullicino, S. Wellman, R. Briffa, B. Said, K. Scicluna, M. Grima, C. Mattocks, A. Cohen, I. Woods, O. Anonam.

The match, at the Ferenc Puskaas Stadium, starts at 8.45pm.