GROUP EIGHT: BULGARIA ARE hoping Italy can do them a favour by beating the Republic of Ireland tonight and keeping alive their chances of making the play-offs for next year's World Cup.

“Knowing the Italians, I think they’ll be searching for victory because they’re keen to finish first in the group,” said striker Valeri Bojinov ahead of their clash in Cyprus tonight.

“Certainly we have to do our job in the matches against Cyprus and Georgia; we need to win the two games,” added Bojinov, who plays for Parma after spells with Lecce, Fiorentina and Juventus.

Fellow striker Ivan Stoyanov said: “The bad thing is that even if we fulfil our task we’ll still need outside help. But we have to be ready to capitalise if things go our way.”