Big changes in squad for play-off against Latvia

No Tjay De Barr, no Louie Annesley. Those are the two big surprises in the early announcement of the Gibraltar national squad that will face Latvia in the first leg of the Nations League play-off on March 26 at the Europa Sports Stadium.

A 23-man squad has been named by selectors in what is one of the most important matches Gibraltar has faced since their last promotion to League C in the UEFA Nations League.

The squad announced on Monday evening includes further surprises, with selectors placing their trust in a young group and introducing some new names, including Joaquin Oschnedier and Mohammed Emrani.

Also among those listed are Jaiden Bartolo, Dylan Borge, Julian Del Rio, Bilal Douah, Liam Jessop, Kai Mauro, Jeremy Perera, Lucas Scanlon and Ethan Lambias-Thorne. This represents a new-look Gibraltar side in terms of selection and a clear move away from the squads previously named under Julio Ribas.

The new-look selection comes after head coach Scott Wiseman indicated that the most recent qualifiers were used as a testing ground for players as he prepared for the play-off against Latvia.