Gozitan champions Victoria Hotspurs are heading to Sicily later on this month for a week-long training camp during which they will be playing a friendly against Catania.

The match will be played on Wednesday, August 21 at the Stadio Torre del Grifo.

“It’s a huge honour for a club like Victoria Hotspurs to be able to play a friendly against a professional side like Catania,” club president Anton Tabone told the Times of Malta.

“Every season we look to give our senior team the best possible preparation for the domestic campaign and through my contacts I managed to strike an agreement to take our squad for a short training camp in Catania.

“As an added bonus this year we will also be playing a friendly against Catania which will surely provide an excellent test for our players ahead of the new season. For us to be involved in a friendly against Catania is a huge boost for our club and hopefully it will continue to boost the image of our club abroad.”

This is the third successive year that the Gozitan champions are taking their team for an overseas training camp ahead of the new season.

In fact in 2017, the Rabat side travelled to Manchester, while last year they headed to Palermo where they stepped up their preparations for the new season with a training camp in facilities owned by former Italy player Salvatore Schillaci.

Tabone confirmed that Victoria Hotspurs have already signed Italian defender Stefano Bianciardi, who last season was on the books of Sliema Wanderers, and have reconfirmed Argentine midfielder Emiliano Lattes and Brazilian forward Elton Da Silva.

Coach Gotthard Conti is currently taking a close look at three overseas players who hail from Argentina, Nigeria and Spain, before making a decision on whether to offer them a contract for the upcoming season.

Apart from their training camp in Sicily, Victoria Hotspurs are also expected to play a number of friendlies in the coming weeks, including matches against Tarxien Rainbows and Floriana.

Victoria Hotspurs open their season on August 30 when they will be involved in the Gozitan Super Cup.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.