Sabah’s new faces to feature against UKM FC tonight
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tambadaus are all set to unleash their new signings when they resume the Premier League fixtures against UKM FC at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium tonight.
Midfielder Ahmet Atayev, 29, and striker Aguilnaldo Mendes Veiga, 30, who were only signed on Monday, have been cleared to play a er their International Transfer Certificates (ITC) were obtained.
And Jelius Ating is ready to give them their first showing and hopefully, they will add qualities to the Tambadaus in their quest for promotion to the Super League.
“All four of our foreign imports will feature against UKM FC,” said Jelius yesterday.
Forward Rodoljub Paunovic, who were handed a six-month contract extension recently, as well as South Korean central defender Park Tae Su are the other two foreign players in the squad.
“I’m happy when told that they (Atayev and Mendes) will be available for the game and although they are not 100 per cent match fit, I certainly hope they will be the answers to our problem faced in previous matches.
“Scoring goals has been the team’s main problem but both of them have shown glimpses of what they can offer to the team in training and Mendes in particular showed that he can be counted on to find the back.
“The observation is only based on training but at least it is something positive that is happening to the team. Hopefully, Mendes can do even be er in the real game,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sabah will go into the game currently ranked third in the 11-team league having collected 21 points from six wins, three draws and two losses.
Jelius said that it was very important for the Tambadaus to avoid defeat in the game as it would be the first of two consecutive away fixtures for them.
“Whether it is one point or three points, the most important thing is that we must return home with something positive from the (UKM) game.
“We will try to go for the win as always...we want to maintain our winning momentum.
“The target is to win as many points in all our matches in the second round of the league and it will continue against UKM.
“However, we must not underestimate UKM as they are no pushovers. We need to be at our very best to ensure that we get the desired result,” he said.
On his line-up, Jelius said there would only be minor changes to the team where Dendy Lowa would replace the suspended Randy Baruh while Mendes and Atayev would also be playing.
The rest are goalkeeper Rozaimie Rohim, captain Rawilson Batuil, Park, Evan Wensley Wenceslaus, Mohd Azzizan Nordin, Alto Linus, Jenius Karib and Paunovic.
Also in the travelling squad are Robson Rendy Rining, Mafry Balang, Ricco Nigel Milus, Muhammad Mohd Safar, Mohd Azwan Abd Fattah, Ummareng Bacok and Mazlan Yahya.