Ħamrun Spartans will go out in search of an early goal as they look to turn around their UEFA Conference League tie against Levski Sofia at the Vivacom Arena Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in Bulgaria (kick-off: 8pm).
The Spartans were left shattered after last week’s first leg at the National Stadium where they put up a lively display but their hopes of attaining a positive result were ended when Filip Krastev struck an injury-time winner that handed the Bulgarian side a crucial lead in their bid to reach the Play-Off round of the UEFA Conference League.
On Thursday, the Spartans have a huge task on their hands to overturn that one-goal deficit against the in-form Levski Sofia side who are expected to be backed by a sell-out crowd in Sofia.
Still, Ħamrun Spartans coach Branko Nisevic said the Spartans have no plans to throw in the towel and said that his players are determined to go out looking for a goal that would rekindle their hopes of qualification.
“We are facing an all-or-nothing scenario,” Nisevic told the Times of Malta.
“After the first leg we need to score a goal and during the past week we have been working hard to try and line up a strategy to reach our goal. We have more than one plan in place for whatever happens in this match but what is certain is that we are going for it.
“In my opinion, all the pressure is on Levksi Sofia who have always been the favourites in this tie given their pedigree. We know that they are a very good team as they showed in the first leg, and it’s not going to be easy for us.
“Added to that we know that we will be playing in front of a sold-out stadium in front of a passionate crowd. But we have already been in a similar situation in Sarajevo against Velez Mostar and we managed to silence their fans on the day. We hope that we can do the same on Thursday.”