Gareth Southgate wants his players to be brave, authoritative and exciting as England return to Wembley looking to put Euro 2016 and an ignominious few weeks behind them.
Last week's publication of secretly recorded footage of Sam Allardyce making a string of controversial comments ended his reign after 67 days and resulted in the under-21s boss quickly having to turn his attention to senior matters.
Southgate had not been keen to fill the void left by Roy Hodgson's Euro 2016 departure, yet there was no hesitation when asked to take the post for the remainder of the year.
Malta, ranked 176th in the world, are the unappealing if straightforward opposition for the 57-cap former defender's first match at the helm as footballing matters make a welcome return to the fore.
It is also England's first match at Wembley since crashing out of Euro 2016 to Iceland and Southgate wants his promising squad to shine in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd.
"Well, I think [stamping your authority] takes time, for sure," the interim boss said on the eve of the match.
"But I think the players are getting an understanding of my beliefs on how I want an England team to play, and I think that is one of the most important messages for me to get across.
"I want them to be brave, I want them to excite the supporters.
"We followed that through with the junior teams right the way through and I think that's one of the most important messages, from my point of view: any England team that goes out, I want to see them play with style.
"Of course, winning is the ultimate, but that will be a consequence of the performance and the way we go about our work every day."
Southgate keeps "hearing what English players can't do" but wants his squad to show what they can do in front of a packed Wembley -- quite remarkable given the level of opponent and what fans were put through in the summer.
An exciting-looking squad not only faltered at Euro 2016 but returned home after an embarrassing loss to Iceland, leading to regular chants around grounds this season of 'You let your country down.'
Southgate has "been that soldier" having failed from the spot against Germany at Euro '96 and is confident ill-feeling will not be palpable this weekend.
"I genuinely feel that people want to see the England team do well, I still think people are excited by what is a young team with great potential," he said. "I think people recognise that.
"I know a game went against them in the summer, which was difficult for everybody to take, but I think people recognise the quality that's there and I think people recognise that it is a team that have pride in playing for England.
"That's certainly filtered through to me this week, talking to the players as a group.
"They do want to make the country proud, they are frustrated by what happened in the summer, but the only way to restore that is to put consistent performances together and build that back up."
Malta, available with some bookmakers at 100-1 to win, certainly look a good bet for the Three Lions to build on last month's last-gasp win in Slovakia.
Southgate approaches the World Cup qualifier with more pride and confidence than when making his England debut as a player in 1995.
The 46-year-old is certainly expecting his first match at Wembley since 2000 to be an improvement, given that was the 1-0 loss to Germany that brought the curtain down on the old ground and led to Kevin Keegan's immediate exit.
"I think I played in the last cup final, the last international and went to the last concert there -- I know which was the most enjoyable," he said, having gone to see Bon Jovi and captained Aston Villa to defeat in the FA Cup final.
"I have to say, what was a joke was a criticism of the selection because I was playing far better than Paul Ince and Dennis Wise were at the time.
"I'd played in midfield for years. Terry [Venables] played me there and it was a genius move, Kevin put me in there and was lambasted and actually, at half-time he changed into a back three.
"I remember feeling for Kevin at that time because the night before the game that broke and put him under pressure from the off.
"But the game wasn't a memorable one, for sure. It's painful to lose any game at Wembley, but to lose to Germany was doubly so."
