Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: Assistant coach Burhan Ajui will need to have something up his sleeves as the Sabah President Cup squad take on Melaka today (Thursday) in their second round tie.
Burhan, who is taking charge of the match as coach Justin Ganai is unavailable, will get the chance to showcase his tactical prowess and hopefully will be able to motivate the players to deliver the maximum points.
The team, who were give the task to make at least the quarterfinal stage at the start of the season, are currently off the pace in 11th place with 24 points after 18 matches played while Melaka are only a place and a point above them and winning is the only option.
The State juniors' trademark this season has been the inability to nick results.
They have been hopelessly ineffective at winning when they should have done so as in the case of the match against Pahang on Monday especially in the first half period.
With only two points from the last four matches, the team are starting to shown signs of another dire run after a strong start in early April with two wins in a row.
The stand-in-coach when contacted on Wednesday said he will employ a more compact game plan to tighten up the defence and wants his player to stay focused throughout the 90 minutes and not let their guard down.
He said Sabri Sahar, who was ill in the previous match, will definitely be playing but his partner in central midfield will only be decided later and it will be a toss between Hafizal Jinik and Fread Filemon Saih as Didie Arizal has stayed behind for the senior team's match against Sime Darby this Friday.
Umareng Bacok, who scored his second goal since his return to the squad after a month's absence, will play on the left wing with Anwari Tajuddin on the other.
Defenders Sahzree Ruhip Ismail and Rawilson Batuil are both suspended and their place may be taken by Benerys Raim and Gerald Sean Mojikon with captain Dendy Lowa and Jenius Karib in support.
Burhan also hinted that Robson Rendy Rinning is likely to get the nod over Endre S. Tipay in goal and they may start with Zul Manshah Aling and Hafizan Jahar as the twin strikers up front.
