New Sabah Times
By UMESH RAJAN
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Under-19 squad are looking to record back-to-back victories today (Wednesday) as they host Kedah in their Youth Cup Group B match at the Penampang Stadium, near here.
After losing their opening match away to Johor Darul Ta’zim IV (JDT IV) last week, Sabah bounced back with a huge morale boosting win over Negeri Sembilan at home on Sunday.
“The win (against Negeri Sembilan) was important for us to gain some confidence as well as momentum after starting poorly in our first match.
“The players are growing each day and absorbing the competitive experience well as they continue to develop as future first-team players,” he said.
The former State player urged his players to go onto the field and play like how they have in training while showing the same fighting spirit as they did last weekend.
“However, I hope that each of the players playing tomorrow (Wednesday) will perform consistently throughout the match, especially having tough mental strength should we take the lead during the match.
“The lack of it (mental strength) in the last match almost cost us the game as we made some mistakes when we took the lead early on. I hope these mistakes are not repeated again if we want to prove our capabilities,” he said.
Billyton said that he will not be making any changes for his starting eleven that started against Negeri Sembilan, where Fahmi Ikhwan Muhd Azmi will start in goal.
Xsevier Xcico Felex, Mohd Farhan Airil Aziz, Seherry Aladin and Mohd Faqrul Idris will attempt to stop Kedah’s attacking force, while Rayner Doliente, Radzee Eqmal Ramli, Johan Mansor and Ahmad Irwanto Rusli will control the play from midfield, whereas Mohamad Sahrizan Saidin and Asymawi Sulikin start up front as Tambadau juniors’ strike force with all eleven expected to start unless any last-minute injury problem strikes.
The visitors, Kedah managed to collect only one point so far from two matches, drawing 2-2 against Sarawak, followed by a 2-0 loss to Perak.
