New Sabah Times
KOTA KINABALU: Juil Nuatim has warned his
high flying charges against taking lowly Melaka lightly when they meet
in a President’s Cup Group A challenge at the Likas Stadium today.
Instead the Sabah team manager wants them to play wholeheartedly in search of their 13th victory of the season.
“I’m proud to note that we have won our last seven home games. So obviously, we will go into this tie brimming with confidence.
“However, we must not be overconfident. So I hope the players will
go into this game with a positive mind and try to win the game,” said
Juil.
“Although we are playing at home, but we must treat this game
seriously. Of course, I’m optimistic of them delivering the result. We
won our first round encounter 4-1 on the road (against Melaka), but then
again, if they go into any battle with a negative mind by taking things
for granted, we could be punished.
“So tomorrow (today), it is important for us to go out there and
play to our best abilities,” said Juil, while calling on his charges to
score as many goals as they could in the match, which kicks off at
4.15pm.
The high riding Sabahawks Juniors have been on a hot streak since the start of the national Under-21 League last February.
They will go into the tie with an unbeaten record after 14 matches
into the season, where they won 12 times and ended the other two ties in
draws.
They have won their last nine matches, and more interestingly, they have not conceded a single goal in their last seven outings.
“I hope to see the boys maintain our superb statistics,” Juil said.
Sabahawks Juniors will have all its top players available except for
flanker Umareng Bacok, who was red carded in the 1-0 win over Johor on
Monday.
He will be serving his two-match automatic suspension in this clash
and their next against Bukit Jalil Sports School next Monday.
For the record, Bukit Jalil Sports School is one of the two sides
that managed to steal a point away from the Sabahawks Juniors after
ending their encounter one-all, the other team being KL Sime Darby FC,
also ending one-all. Both matches were away ties.
The Sabahawks Juniors are sitting comfortably at the top of the 13-team standings on 38 points.
