Stephen Kenny says Ireland need to tighten up at the back and improve their clean sheet record.
So far this year the Boys in Green have managed just two blanks in nine games - and they have conceded twice in each of their last three outings.
Sunday evening’s opponents Malta have been sharp in front of goal in recent times, beating Israel 2-1 and drawing 2-2 last Thursday against Greece, so they will pose a threat to Kenny’s defence.
The Ireland boss knows his side will have to be better when they come up against France and the Netherlands in Euro 2024 qualification next year.
“To be honest we’ve been scoring a fair amount of goals. Where we need to improve on in our last couple of performances is keeping clean sheets,” he said.
“We need to get back to that culture.
“We played a really good side (Norway last Thursday) and dominated for the first 25 minutes of the second half and then undid our good work by conceding from a set play, which was kind of an innocuous goal which we shouldn’t have conceded.
“That’s an area we have to improve on, from recent performances.”
There won’t be wholesale changes to his starting-11 on Sunday, as he bids to fine-tune his side ahead of next March’s Euro qualification opener at home to France.
“It’s fair to say we’ve introduced a lot of players over the last two years, and that’s not to say that we won’t do that again, introduce players if they deserve it,” he said.
“But we’re trying to create a squad we need for March so not too much change really at this stage.
“We’ve had radical enough change and we need a level of continuity to some degree.”
Addressing Malta’s recent form, Kenny said: “They were winning right to the end and Greece got a late equaliser, and obviously they had a good result against Israel.
“We’ve watched their recent games, they’re an improved team.
“It’s only when you come here and hear some of the history between Ireland and Malta, scoring late goals. It’s never been an easy hunting ground for Ireland it seems.
“I’m sure people can point out maybe other games but it seems to have always been close games here over the years even when Ireland were at their best.
“For us, we expect a tough game but we want to finish the season on a high. We want to finish the season with a win. That’s what we want to do and intend doing.”
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