Gżira United coach Darren Abdilla wants to see his players adopt a more aggressive approach as the Maltese Premier League side are bidding to book their place into the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League with victory at Glentoran in Northern Ireland.
The Maroons produced a solid display in last week’s first leg at the Centenary Stadium as they recovered from a slow start to turn the match in their favour early in the second half only to concede a late equaliser to end up with a 2-2 draw.
It was an encouraging display from Gżira United on their European debut this summer, particularly after the team parted ways with several key first-team players such as Maxuell Maia, Nicky Muscat, Jefferson and Steve Pisani, just to name a few.
Coach Abdilla said that his team are approaching Thursday’s second leg against Glentoran with a positive mindset and they have firm belief that they can progress.
“We are looking at the match with optimism,” Abdilla told the Times of Malta.
“We believe that we can progress to the next round. We know that it’s not going to be easy as Glentoran are a good side but the players are determined and we are going to give it our all.”
Abdilla admitted that last week, his team were not ruthless enough in front of goal, something they need to improve on in Thursday’s match.
“It’s very important that we take the chances that come our way,” the Gżira coach said.
“Last week we created many chances and could have easily scored more goals. On Thursday we need to be more ruthless and make the most of the scoring opportunities that come our way if we are to progress.”
The Gżira coach is aware that Glentoran will make life difficult for his team and wants his team to play with more pace.
“I’m expecting Glentoran to take control of the match and be more adventurous,” he said.
“They will be keen to dictate the tempo of the game. We need to be very aggressive and make sure that we adapt to a more quick style of play than we showed in the first leg.”
