BALA TOWN manager Colin Caton says his side will be 'aiming to put things right' during their UEFA Europa League match against Valletta.

The Lakesiders fly out to Malta from Manchester on Wednesday morning ahead of their first round qualifying match at the Ta'Qali National Stadium on Thursday evening (7pm BST kick off).

Bala have suffered European heartbreak in the past, including an agonising last-gasp defeat to Luxembourg-based side Differdange 03 in 2015/16.

As well as that, there was aslo a 3-2 aggregate loss to Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) and heavier defeats at the hands of AIK (Sweden), Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and Tre Fiori (San Marino).

But with this year's fixtures featuring just the one-leg rather than the traditional two, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bala boss Caton says his side are 'hungrier than ever' to progress to the second round.

Speaking to the Denbighshire Free Press, Caton, who has been manager of the club for the last 18 years added: "Of course, we're expecting a very tough game when we go there, but they might just have a shock themselves, especially when you look at the players we've brought in.

"We've never had much luck go our way in terms of away games in Europe (they've lost all five to date), and the lads are frustrated by that and want to put things right.

"I can honestly say this is the best group of players I've ever had here now. We will be well-prepared, having trained as often as we can and where we can and we will have added experience too.

"We'll have no excuses, this Covid-19 pandemic has put a strain on so many teams around the world, not just us. We've had friendlies away against Crewe, Shrewsbury and TNS, which are the best opposition we've ever come up against leading up to a European game so hopefully that will benefit us."

Caton, who turned 50 years old on Saturday, says that although it's been hard to find clips from Valletta's matches, he knows his side face a 'difficult task' in Malta.

"In terms, of what we can expect from them, we know it will be tough as they're a full time team. When you come up against someone that trains six times a week and you're only training a twice a week, whether it's in football, darts or snooker, you know it's always going to be tough.

"They'll be sitting their waiting for us, but we'll do what we can to rise to the challenge".

In terms of injury worries, Caton says Kieran Smith is a doubt, as is defender Shaun Kelly and new signing Raul Correia is also 'carrying a niggle'.

Although no fans have been permitted to travel to the game, the fixture will be streamed online for supporters to watch as of 6.30pm on Thursday via Bala Town's social media pages.