Kota Kinabalu: Head coach Jelius Ating is hoping Sabah Tambadaus will build on their win over Terengganu II in the last match to grab all three points in the first Borneo Derby match this season against Sarawak at the State Stadium this afternoon (Saturday) at 4.15pm. “We are of course targeting for a win against Sarawak on Saturday. We won the home game against Terengganu last week, so it is a good momentum and I hope the players can build on that and try their very best to take the maximum points.
“We are quite confident of a positive result but at the same time, we do not underestimate our opponents. As we know Sarawak this season are represented by mostly young local players, so we expect a hard working team that may cause some problems for us especially with their home ground advantage. “We will take a very cautious approach and hopefully the players can execute their game as well as they did in the last match,” he said on Thursday.
He also disclosed that the team will be without Brazilian import Luiz Carlos Junior due to injury sustained in the last match. “It is rather unfortunate that we cannot play Luiz Junior in the match because he is still not fully recovered from his injury. “We decided not to take the risk and play him but to continue his rehabilitation here instead, and in his absence, Ricco (Nigel Millis) will take over his place.”
There will not be other changes in the starting line-up according to him. The team will likely start with Rozaimie Rohim in goal supported by the back four of South Korean import Park Taesu, skipper Rawilson Batuil, Deny Lowa and Randy Baruh. The midfield four will be Sabri Sahar, Azizzan Nordin, Maxsius Musa and Ricco with import Serbian players Rodoljub Paunovic and Luka Milunovic leading the attacks up front.
