KOTA KINABALU: Sabah President Cup coach Justin Ganai (pic) says the squad’s Group A match against Selangor this afternoon (Thursday) at Likas Stadium is going to be a tough encounter. However, despite the recent good run by the visiting team, the veteran coach insisted his team will not be pushovers and will give their very best to cause an upset.
“We will be using the match to gauge the true strength of our team because there is no better way to do it other than to take on the table-toppers, who have won all their opening five matches. “This is also going to be a yardstick to see how far we have progressed since our preparations started a few months back,” he added.
“We’ll see what is going to happen tomorrow, but I believe our players are ready to mount a strong challenge against a team who have a good scoring record with 11 goals from five matches and conceded only two goals. “Our defence who also let in only two goals so far must be at their very best to stop them from scoring while our strikers will need to buck up because only three goals were scored in the last five matches.”
Their task is made even tougher with the absence of leading striker Mohd Shariman Mukarim who took time off following the death of his brother. “On behalf of the team, I would like to express our deepest condolence to him and his family… our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time,” he said on Wednesday.
He disclosed that Faizulnizam Aziz will take over Shariman’s role to partner with Ariusdius Jais up front. That will be the only changes from the previous starting line-up against Kedah The team are currently sixth in the 10-team standings on seven points from two wins, one draw and two defeats while Selangor are top with a maximum of 15 points from five games. Meanwhile, the State Youth Cup squad’s dismal run continued after they were beaten 2-1 by Selangor in a Group B tie at Penampang Stadium on Wednesday.
All the goals were scored in the first half. The visitors took the lead in the 11th minute through Sharvin Selvakumaran before extending it three minutes later with a goal from Muhd Husni Idrus. It was only after defender Mohd Faqrul Idris pulled one back in the 18th minute did the team looked more organised and created a lot of chances, but as usual were unable to find the finishing touches. It was the same scenario in the second half with both teams missed several opportunities and Sabah’s custodian Azlizan Azlan also made some good saves.
The loss was Sabah’s third at home and they also lost all three of their away games. The only victory came in the second match when they beat Negeri Sembilan 2-1 at home back on February 24. They will next take on leaders Terengganu IV away this Sunday.
