The Maltese girls are at the back of the second edition of the VisitMalta Tournament which saw Gatt’s side pick up a victory against Moldova before staging a gutsy display against World Cup hopefuls Morocco.

Coach Gatt is pleased with the attitude shown by the players throughout the training sessions heading into the stern test against Denmark, who won the reverse fixture in the competition opener back in September.

“We have been preparing ourselves in the best possible way for this match,” Gatt said in his pre-match comments.

“The players are concentrated and determined as they already know what they are expecting from this game having played against the same opponents three times in recent years.

We have no fear of our opponents and we are striving to take as much positives as possible from such a challenge.”

Denmark top Group E with a 100 per cent record of six victories. With second-favourites in this group Russia out of the equation following the latest FIFA ruling due to the Ukraine invasion, the Scandinavian side can consider themselves already qualified to next year’s World Cup.

However, these qualification games remain an important platform for them as they have already shifted their attention towards the Women’s Euro 2022 finals that will commence in July. Denmark are tipped as one of the favourites to be crowned champions, having reached the final in the last edition held in 2017.

Therefore, coach Gatt will be looking to identify how to contain a Denmark side that despite will be missing stalwart Pernille Harder, can still bank on a lot of gifted players.

“One of the aspects that we have been working on during the training sessions was our defensive phase, because it is crucial that we try to close down their passing channels,” Gatt explained.

“At the same time, we worked on how to try and counter-attack in an attempt to inch up ourselves on the field as well.”

For this game, that will precede the friendly against the Italy U-23’s side, coach Gatt has called up a number of young players again. These include Jessica Dimech, Maia Debono, Leanne Cefai and Jade Schembri whose positive displays in the domestic competitions has been repaid with another senior call-up.

In addition, coach Gatt has also called up Raiders Lija forward Leah Ayres – 18 – who obtained the Maltese passport just in time for this double-header.

The English-born player was part of the U-19’s selection in February, when she played in both friendlies against Cyprus.

Ayres, who has 10 goals in the MFA Women’s League, has replaced the injured Alishia Sultana in the 22-player list.

The Malta women coach is a firm believer in nurturing the youth talents by providing them such platforms, which will help them integrate quickly with the team while adapting to the international stage at senior level.

“We are always on the look for promising players that can help us improve,” Gatt underlined.

“Our squad is very fluid because it constantly evolves and sees new faces.

Although we don’t like to burn out youths quickly, sometimes we are forced to pick up very young players with the senior side due to our limitations in the pool of players. Nonetheless, we always make sure to give them their required time to develop and maximise their potential.”