Mosta coach Mark Miller is delighted with the attitude and determination shown by his players as the Blues rubberstamped their eye-catching start to the season when they edged past struggling Sliema 1-0 at the Centenary Stadium last weekend.

Dexter Xuereb, one of the emerging talents from the Mosta academy, provided the all-important goal that handed the Blues their third successive win that lifted them to sixth place in the standings on 13 points, just seven behind leaders Floriana who they meet next weekend.

Mosta’s bright start to the season may be a sign that the Blues are starting to distance themselves from the tag of Premier League strugglers they gained in recent years and Miller is keen to see his team fulfilling their potential.

“It has been one of the most consistent starts for Mosta FC for a few years,” the English coach told the Times of Malta yesterday.

“We are certainly not a team who can bank on star players but we are always trying to bring the best out of the squad we have.

“I’m pleased to see that the team is reflecting my football DNA – hard work and determination – as that shows that my work is reaping the desired dividends.

“I’m always trying to keep the players as fresh as I can. This week for instance I took Mamadou Jallow from the team despite he had netted the winner against Sta Lucia but the players that came in did a very good job.

“People tend to say that you shouldn’t change a winning team but I always make the necessary adjustments so that team is better suited for our opponents and so far it worked out well.”

During the summer, coach Miller was concerned by the strength-in-depth of his team as he had only four Maltese players in his squad.

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But gradually, aided by the hard-working Mosta FC administration, he can now bank on a very solid base of Maltese players as well as 12 foreigners.

“I am really happy with the group of players that we managed to assemble this season,” Miller said.

“At the start, we were short in numbers but with hard work we managed to build a good base of Maltese players. I only have words of praise for players like Tyrone Farrugia, Dexter Xuereb, Duane Bonnici, Kyle Gatt, Andreas Vella, Zachary Brincat and Gabriel Aquilina who are doing a very good job,” Miller said.

“In the last few weeks we also managed to bring in four new players from Senegal who have provided me with more options.

“Things are looking good but I’m always pushing for better and I hope the club is ambitious to move a step higher.”

Miller  joined Mosta in the second part of last season and his arrival sparked a revival as the club managed to escape from the threat of relegation.

This season, however, Miller is keen to see the club target higher objectives.

“To be honest, I’m not too happy with the situation at our club at the moment,” the former Hibernians coach said.

“I think that the club can do much better. When I came here we had an initial plan to rescue the team’s top-flight status and we attained that. In the summer we sat down and made a plan that, if we managed to put it into fruition, will see the club get in a better position from both an administrative and financial position. But only time will tell when this will happen.

“But I want to go to the next level with this club and I’m trying to push everyone to take the team a step further. Mosta FC is a great club who have people who work hard at the club but they need guidance to improve the potential of this team.

“I’m a very ambitious person and I hope the president will be able to fulfil my wish and provide us with the tools so we can aspire to higher goals.”

Miller said  the first step towards building a more promising future for the club is to ingrain a winning mentality in players.

“I’m always looking to push on my players, especially now that we are coming from three successive wins, as it’s very easy that my players could be affected by complacency,” Miller said.

“This is a group of players who are not used to winning so I need to establish a mentality which will see them always pushing for more. During training I’m always shouting and pushing on my players as I don’t want them to be fall in the comfort zone.

“Next up for us is a very difficult match against the leaders Floriana. For me, it’s a game that we could have a chance to win but again we need to be very good throughout the 90 minutes and show the fight and determination shown in the last three matches.

“It’s up to the players now to show that they have what it takes to stay among the lead front runners.”