Slovenia are facing an improbable task of qualifying after losing four of their first five matches in qualifying and currently sitting fifth out of six teams with six out of ten matches played.

Wins in the remaining matches would give them a shot of taking second place, which leads to a playoff, which is why a win against a powerful Albanian side in Stožice Stadium is a must.

Slovenia has experienced a revival of sorts under coach Srečko Katanec, who returned to the Slovenian bench at the beginning of the year after previously guiding Slovenia to the 2002 World Cup.

Katanec can count on his best line-up for the match starting at 8:30 PM and is satisfied with what he has seen in training in recent days.

"The boys have trained well and are in good shape and know what they have to do," he told the press on Thursday.

He said Slovenia would pursue an aggressive game plan in order to score as soon as possible against an attacking Albanian side, which is currently second in the group with 10 points.

"But you can't force anything, you have to let the game come to you and take your chances," he said.

The two sides played each other in qualifying almost exactly a year ago, when Albania won 1-0 in Tirana.

Likely Slovenian line-up: Samir Handanović (goalkeeper); Mišo Brečko, Bojan Jokić, Branko Ilić, Dejan Kelhar (defence); Jasmin Kurtić, Rene Krhin, Kevin Kampl, Valter Birsa and Andraž Kirm (midfield); Milivoje Novaković (striker).