Rhinos relishing return to Malaysia Cup ba le
The Rhinos have no inten on to just make up the numbers on their long-awaited return to the Malaysia Cup compe on.
KOTA KINABALU: The Rhinos have no intention to just make up the numbers on their longawaited return to the Malaysia Cup competition.
Instead, head coach Jelius Ating said the Premier League outfit would give their utmost best to go as far as possible in the country’s oldest cup competition.
“Personally, I’m really happy that Sabah are in the Malaysia Cup competition this year. It’s been a long time...around six years (that we have not qualified).
“We made to this year’s competition on merit and not via play-off...it proves the team has shown positive improvement.
“My hope is that we are not there just to make up the numbers in the Malaysia Cup but to make all out efforts to go as far possible in the competition,” he said during the team training yesterday.
The Rhinos have been drawn in Group D of the preliminary rounds where they will have traditional powerhouses Selangor and Pahang as well as clubside PKNP FC as opponents. All three are Super League teams.
On paper, Jelius revealed that Selangor and Pahang would be the favourites but he believed Sabah have equal chances to get past the group stages.
“For me the draw (conducted on Monday) was fair for all the teams involved...very tough not only in our group but others.
“In Group D, we have Selangor and Pahang who were finalists in this year’s FA Cup while PKNP too were semifinalists in the same competition, although all three teams did not fare well in the (Super) League based on their standings.
“But, we must not look into that too much because we are all aware of the history of Selangor and Pahang in the Malaysia Cup... they normally did well in the competition.
“Despite all these, we are very determined and believed that we could give a good challenge to all three teams,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jelius said he had to stay relevant when it comes to giving specific target for Sabah in the Malaysia Cup.
“If we can go better than the semifinals, it would be very good because we have to be relevant.
“If we look at the players in the team, the numbers who are ready to play are limited because some key players are plagued by injuries.
“In addition to that, our form in the Premier League competition is inconsistent and this slightly holding the team back.
“We will give it our utmost nevertheless,” said Jelius.
Sabah qualified for the Malaysia Cup as the top five teams from the Premier League while Selangor finished fourth, Pahang eighth and PKNP ninth in the Super League.
The Rhinos, who were runnersup in 1996, 2002 and 2003, will open their Malaysia Cup campaign away to Pahang at the Darul Makmur Stadium on August 4.