James Brown will not be making his national team debut in next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Croatia and Slovakia as the lateral defender has been ruled out with a muscular injury, the Malta Football Association said in a statement.
Brown had been due to make his first appearance for Malta during last month’s qualifiers against Slovenia and Cyprus but had been ruled out with a hamstring injury. National teams head coach Devis Mangia had been hoping that the player would finally make his first bow this month but the defender suffered a similar injury with his club St Johnstone.
Tests carried out on the player have confirmed that he will not be available for selection for the matches against Croatia and Slovakia.