By: GL Oh
KOTA KINABALU: Billyton Vun hopes his boys will end the first round of the Youth Cup competition on a winning note against Pahang in their Group B tie at Stadium UIA Indera Mahkota, this afternoon (Sunday). The coach said the players must keep up their momentum after thrashing Penang 7-1 at Penampang Stadium last Sunday, the second win for the team this season . “We will definitely be targeting three points, especially after getting a victory against Penang in our last match following the team’s seven consecutive defeat.
“It was a major boost for the players’ moral and I want them to keep their winning momentum before we finish the first round,” he said, Friday. He added that the training session still focussed fully on improving the players’ speed and endurance which has been the main weakness. “We are still working hard to improve the players speed and endurance because when I looked back at all our matches, we always conceded easily and sometimes three goals within five minutes.
This is obviously a lack of concentration caused by weak endurance.” He also said with the suspension of Fakrul Ideris in defence, more drills have been carried out in the past one week on the back. “We have to drill our defence more due to the suspension of Faqrul (Idris) because I want to see all four players at the back have the same chemistry to work together.
“Apart from that, we also continued to drill on transition from defending to attack. This is important because the moment we had the opportunity to break away from defensive mode, the players must know immediately how to mount the attacks.” Meanwhile, the coach will maintain the same starting line-up against Penang apart from Faqrul who is likely to be replaced by Syukri Suami.
Probable players to start today are Azlizan Azlan, Xsevier Xcico Felex, Syukei Suami, Farhan Airil Aziz, Rayner Doliente, Johan Mansor, Rozacklye Yanam, Sharizan Saidin, Nasip Zain, Irwanto Rusli and Hizaz Lokman.
