Stephen Kenny has paid tribute to “underrated” midfielder Alan Browne.
The Preston ace netted his fifth Ireland goal in last Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Norway.
Four of those came in eight starts and nine substitute appearances under Kenny.
Browne’s goalscoring form for Ireland is all the more remarkable considering he hasn’t scored so far for Preston in 20 games this season.
Kenny said: “Alan Browne is probably someone who is underrated in terms of self-sacrifice.
“He has missed three windows for me. One was as a close contact, then from having Covid and finally due to a hip procedure.
“He’s been a starter and sub in equal capacity but in eight starts, he’s got four goals. Those were against Scotland, Belgium, Norway and Serbia. That’s a very good ratio.
“Some of those are sub appearances, he came on against Belgium to score.
“He got a great goal on Thursday. That was another positive for me. Those two things were important for me. So was the back three getting more time together.
“We can eradicate that goal from the set-piece free-kick. We went through it this morning with the centre-backs, what we can do better.”
Kenny won’t make too many changes to his starting 11 tonight, although Caoimhin Kelleher can expect a start in place of Gavin Bazunu.
Seamus Coleman will come into the three-man defence, with Dara O’Shea possibly the one to lose out, while Jeff Hendrick could replace Jayson Molumby in midfield.
Kenny wants to get a positive result tonight and end an up-and-down 2022 on a high note.
“We haven't been consistent with results for sure and we would like to finish on a win, that's the intention,” he said.
“We've no divine right to do that. Malta’s recent results have shown they have a way of playing, and are well drilled, well organised, a counter attacking team.
“We want to get the balance between making some changes and working on one or two things that we probably still need to look at and try to win the game.”
Malta will once again be managed by interim boss Gilbert Agius. He took over for the 2-2 draw with Greece after the resignation of Italian native Devis Mangia over claims of improper conduct.
Agius was highly complimentary of their visitors tonight, saying: “We're expecting a hard match.
“We know Ireland. In my opinion, they deserve to be at the World Cup.
“They have a good [enough] team to be there, they have been there many times, so we know that it's going to be another game of sacrifice, hard work and discipline.
“They have a lot of strengths. They play dynamic football, they have a lot of midfielders running with the ball with cooperation down the sides.
“They put a lot of players behind the opponents' midfield – they put six players sometimes in midfield.
“They have a lot of powerful players, experienced players. In my opinion, they're a very good team.”
Meanwhile, Seamus Coleman says he will know when it’s time to draw the curtain on his international career.
The Everton ace is eager to be around for the Euro 2024 campaign, but admits he is at the stage of his career where he can only take things one game at a time.
“You don’t know when your last cap could be, regardless of what age or where you are in your career,” said the Toffees defender, who will start in Malta tonight.
“I wouldn’t say (I’ll) keep going until I can’t no more, because I think you have got to be realistic with your body.
“If I go back to Everton in January and I am in training and I notice lads are running past me two or three times in a training session, I think you have got to look at all things.
“But at this moment in time I feel good when I play.”
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