Floriana coach Enzo Potenza has urged his players to put all their focus and energy on their clash against Sirens as the Premier League joint-leaders look keep their title ambitions on track with victory at the National Stadium today (kick-off: 7pm).
The Greens head into the match on cloud nine following last week’s thrilling shoot-out victory over Birkirkara that put the team into semi-finals of the FA Trophy for the first time since 2017.
However, the Italian coach has warned his players not to let that euphoria distract them from the importance of today’s clash against the high-flying Sirens who are looking to secure an historic qualification to European football.
“We have a very difficult test in our hands as we are facing a Sirens side who have shown that their high-placing in the standings is no flash in the pan,” Potenza told the Times of Malta.
“Sirens are enjoying an extraordinary season and I must heap praise on my colleague Steve D’Amato for the excellent work he has done so far. They have made life difficult for every team in the division and we must be ready for this challenge.”
Potenza hailed his team’s character and determination to overcome Birkirkara last weekend but emphasised that it was important not to rest on their laurels as they have not won anything yet.
“The win against Birkirkara in the FA Trophy was a great achievement for our team,” the former Senglea coach said.
“Birkirkara are the most in-form side at present and my players showed great heart and determination to reach our goal.
“But that is in the past now and so far, we haven’t won anything yet. There is still a lot of work to do still and it’s important that we continue to approach every match with the right level of concentration.”
Sirens, on the other hand, have no plans to play second fiddle to their more-quoted opponents.
The St Paul’s Bay side continue to surprise their critics as despite being in their first-ever campaign in the Maltese top-flight, are well on course to book an historic place in next season’s Europa League qualifiers.
They are currently third in the standings, just three points adrift of pacesetters Floriana and Valletta.
“This is a difficult match for us but no doubt all the pressure is on Floriana, who are chasing the league title,” D’Amato said.
“We are enjoying a brilliant season and having maintained such a high-placing until this stage of the season our goal is to give it our best shot to try and qualify for Europe, which would be an unprecedented feat for a newly-promoted side.
“At the moment, I only have praise for my players, who, from the start of the season have shown great commitment to the cause.
“Although our main goal was to avoid the drop, once we achieved that feat, we turned our sights on our next goal of qualifying to European football and we’re doing everything we can to reach this ambitious goal.
“Obviously playing against Floriana will be a huge challenge but while we will give them their due respect we will try and focus to play our game and try to remain on this positive path.”
First round result: Sirens vs Floriana 1-4.