Gianluigi Donnarumma insists he ‘never feared’ losing his place in the Italy XI, as he captains the team against Malta and is targeting Gigi Buffon’s caps record.
It kicks off at the Stadio San Nicola at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Nazionale have won all nine of their meetings with Malta, including a 2-0 result away in March, when Roberto Mancini was still on the bench.
The build-up to this game and Tuesday’s trip to England has been dominated by the betting scandal which saw Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Zaniolo sent home after they were interviewed by police.
“It has been an unusual 24 hours, but this certainly will not affect the team and our journey,” said Donnarumma in his press conference.
“We are concentrated on training, playing and focusing on tomorrow’s game to give our all for the victory. This has not affected the morale of the team.”
Donnarumma made his senior Italy debut at the Stadio San Nicola in September 2016 with a friendly defeat to France, so returning here for the first time is a special moment.
He is now the player in the squad with the most caps and is therefore going to wear the captain’s armband tomorrow, so is the PSG goalkeeper also hoping to break Buffon’s record?
“I always try to give my best, train hard and be at the disposal of the squad, staff and coach. I will try to get as many caps as possible, nobody can know how many that will be.
“Buffon made history, he was the best ever. It’ll be tough, but I will try as hard as I can to get close to his tally. Wearing the Italy jersey is already a huge honour, the dream of every kid, so I feel even prouder to have the captain’s armband. I can’t even explain what that means to me.”
It has been a complicated EURO 2024 qualifying campaign, interrupted by the Nations League and then with Mancini replaced by Luciano Spalletti.
“We need the right mentality to bring home three points, then after that we can think about the England game, where we also hope to win.”
Donnarumma has been subjected to a great deal of criticism for his recent Italy performances, with suggestions Guglielmo Vicario of Tottenham or Lazio shot-stopper Ivan Provedel could take his place.
“I never feared that. The decisions are down to the coach, so all I can do is work hard and give my best.”