Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: There are at least 16 players fighting for the starting line-up in the Sabah Premier League team at the moment according to Milomir Seslija.
The Bosnian coach said this on Sunday after the team's final training session at the Likas Sports Complex before their departure to Kuching for the friendly match against Sarawak tonight.
"The players in the team have been doing great in training and fighting hard for the first 11 places and it gives me a headache in a positive way as to who will make the team," he said.
"Right now, I would say there are 16 players looking strong for the starting line-up and this coming friendly matches will determine who will make the first team in our first match of the season in the FA Cup competition against Kuantan FA on Jan 21."
He added that the match against Sarawak is good for him to judge the players especially on their character in front of the expected big crowd.
"As I said before, the match is part of our preparation for the coming season, so result is not everything. What is important is for us to identify the weaknesses in the team and try to rectify them now."
After the trip to Kuching, the team will have a return match against Sarawak here at the Likas Stadium on Jan 4 and according to Milomir, they may have another friendly match against Brunei before the end of their pre-season training.
Meanwhile, newly appointed team manager for the new season Rahman Zakaria said he is very happy with the progress of the team so far.
"The progress of the team has been great especially after the recent Indonesian trip and that's all I have to say right now," he said.
Rahman, who is no stranger to the job having served as the team manager previously, was always present during the team's training sessions observing from the stands together with Sabah Football Association Vice President Joehari Ayob who is also the chairman of the team management committee.
Joehari on commenting on the trip to Indonesia reckoned that it was good for the team and he fully supported the idea. "We have practically a new team with only three senior players left from last season.
It is very important to have unity as it is one of the main factors for any team to succeed."
"The trip was served as a bonding exercise as some of the players had only just joined the team and it helped to break the ice among themselves and I believe the togetherness during their stay in a foreign country will definitely help to strengthen the team as a whole."
Meanwhile, only 20 players made the trip to Sarawak on Sunday and they were Farid Ideris, Maxsius Musa, Irwan Jamil, Fazli Paat, Predrag Pocuca, Rosdin Wasli, Jalamri Muhammad, Didie Arizal Ibrahim, Dendy Lowa, Varathan Arumugam, Srecko Mitrovic, Redzuam Nawi, Ezaidy Khadar, Sabri Sahar, Isma Alif Salim, Rexjeson Pitrus, Reithaudin Ag Emran, Pritam Singh, Marwan Sayedah and Mohd Shahrul Chankui while Zainizam Marjan, Altin Grbovic and Wan Mohd Hoesne have to stay back to nurse their respective injuries.
