Birkirkara, Hibernians look to step up pressure on Premier League frontrunners

Birkirkara and Hibernians have little margin for error to step up their bid for a Top Six berth as the 360 Sports Malta Premier resumes this weekend.

At present, Ħamrun Spartans and Floriana are leading the way on 14 points, just two ahead of Birkirkara, Hibernians and Marsaxlokk as the race for a Top Six berth is turning out to be a very tight race with practically all the teams in the division still in contention.

With the joint-leaders in action on Sunday, Birkirkara and Hibernians have the opportunity to go top of the standings with victory in Saturday’s afternoon’s clash at the National Stadium (kick-off: 4pm).

Both teams come into the match on the back of impressive victories last weekend with Birkirkara breezing past giant-killers Żabbar St Patrick 4-0 while a Lucas Villela brace enabled Hibernians to overcome Mosta 2-0.

Birkirkara coach Stefano De Angelis is aware of the difficult task awaiting his team and highlighted the importance for his players to maintain their concentration levels very high or else they risk to suffer a disappointing day’s work.

“It’s clear that it’s going to be a very difficult match against a Hibernians side who play some excellent football and are mentored by a very good coach,” De Angelis said.

“It’s important that we continue from where we left off in last week’s match against Żabbar St Patrick. We need to keep approaching our season one game at a time and see where this will lead us.

“For me the most important aspect is our psychological mindset. Against Żabbar we were determined right from the outset and played with high intensity and that was key to secure victory. However, if we let our mental concentration dip, we are seriously jeopardising our hopes of success as the team will struggle to perform.

“We are aware of what are our limitations as well as our virtues so it’s important that we play with a lot of energy and hunger for success… something that made a huge difference against Żabbar.”

Hibernians, on their part, have struggled for consistency but their performances in the Closing Round have shown remarkable improvement and coach Branko Nisevic is only focused on keeping the winning trend going.

“Facing Birkirkara is always a very difficult match,” Nisevic said.

“If you look at their results, there was no team so far who managed to win eight in a row and that shows how strong they can. This year’s championship has shown that there are no easy matches, irrespective of facing top teams like Ħamrun and Floriana or maybe less-quoted teams like Balzan and Melita.

“Things are so tight that matches are often decided by episodes, such as red cards, penalties and so on and we need to make sure that these variable work out in favour so we can win the match.

“Birkirkara are a very good side, guided by a great coach and have a good mixture of players. In January they made a lot of changes and took time to settle down but now they seem to be finding their best form with Alex Satariano proving to be their best player and I am sure will be a great contender for the Player of the Year award.

“Our objective is clear to get into the Top Six for now and we need to do everything in our power to reach our objective.”