Malta National Coach John Buttigieg yesterday named the eighteen man squad which will travel to Georgia for Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier in programme at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tbilisi.

The contingent leaves Malta today for a thirteen-hour trip to Tbilisi and returns on Saturday.

Buttigieg said he believes that this match, like all the others, will be difficult. “Georgia have made tremendous improvement. They have started this campaign with two prestigious draws against Greece and Israel. But with more attention and concentration from my players, I believe we will soon be reaping dividends.

“We had problems with lack of ball possession in the first match against Israel. But against Latvia, we showed improvement. If only we turned the chances we created – four or five – into goals, we would have obtained a much better result,” he claimed.

Buttigieg added the team has to forget about those huge disappointments and look forward with optimism. He added: “After all, there were also some positives, especially in the match against Latvia.”

The squad is the following

Goalkeepers: Justin Haber - Ferencvaros TC; Andrew Hogg - Valletta FC

Defenders: Andrei Agius - AS Melfi; Jonathan Caruana - Valletta FC; Massimo Grima - Hamrun Spartans FC; Edward Herrera - Hibernians FC; Carlo Mamo - Marsaxlokk FC; Joseph Zerafa - Birkirkara FC

Midfielders: Shaun Bajada - Birkirkara FC; Roderick Briffa - Valletta FC; Paul Fenech - Birkirkara FC; Ryan Fenech - Hamrun Spartans FC; Jamie Pace - Valletta FC; Kevin Sammut - Valletta FC; Gareth Sciberras - Marsaxlokk FC

Forwards: Andrew Cohen - Hibernians FC; Michael Mifsud - no club; Andre Schembri - Ferencvaros TC