Penang meet Rhinos challenge
Sabah head coach Jelius A ng hoped his squad would bounce back when they meet Penang in the Premier League football match at the Stadium Negeri in Penang today.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah head coach Jelius Ating hoped his squad would bounce back when they meet Penang in the Premier League football match at the Stadium Negeri in Penang today.
He said victory would be the best way to bounce back from the earlier defeat (3-2) to UKM FC on Tuesday.
“The defeat to UKM FC was definitely bitter but it is not about that anymore...it is now about how we can bounce back.
“The mood in the camp is very good and all the players are free from injury. We have been trying to restore the situation and I hope the players will be able to give their best tomorrow (today),” Jelius said when contacted in Penang yesterday.
He said Sabah must win to ensure that their position in the standings was not jeopardised again.
“We suffered just one defeat and it affected our position, so we have to get three full points to get back on track to try and keep our pace in this first round.
“Any drop in points will be detrimental as the point difference between us and other teams is very small. We have to get maximum points in this first round so that we will not be pressured later on,” he said.
The starting line-up was finalised after their training session yesterday and Jelius said there will not be any significant changes.
“What is certain is that Maxsius (Musa) will be back in the (starting) line-up after starting from the bench previously when Umareng Bacok took his place.
“So far, it seems that all the other players will be retained in the line-up but we will finalise that later,” he said.
Sabah will be going into the match without one of its foreign imports as Heo Jaenyong just recovered from injury.
“Heo has returned after undergoing treatment in Korea but has not joined training yet so we will only have three imports,” Jelius said, referring to Lee Gil Hoon, Hector Ramos and Francis Kasonde.
Sabah are currently third in the 12-team standings on 13 points from eight matches with a record of three wins, four draws and one defeat.
Penang on the other hand are ninth on seven points, while Felda united FC (20 points) and Felcra FC (14) remain in the top two position.