Tchetche’s absence may slow Turtles down
PETALING JAYA: Terengganu are missing the impact of their talismanic skipper Kipre Tchetche who is nursing a thigh injury, said their coach Irfan Bakti.
The Ivory Coast striker missed their Super League match against Kedah at the Sultan Ismail Stadium in Kuala Terengganu which ended 1-1 on Friday.
The East Coast side opened the scoring through nippy winger J. Parthiban in the 44th minute but Kedah equalised via midfielder Baddrol Bakthiar in the 64th to share the points.
Tchetche is expected to miss the Turtles’ next Super League clash against Pahang on May 1 and Irfan said he needs to formulate a plan in the absence of his Ivory Coast hitman.
“Tchetche doesn’t just score goals for us, he also plays a key role in helping other departments and his leadership inspires the other players to give their best during matches,” said Irfan yesterday.
“It seems that we will miss him for the Pahang game and I need to come up with a plan for this game. It might still be early in the season but we don’t want to drop any more points, especially at home.
“I’m looking at getting our flankers to step up for the next game but we only have three days to do this. The time is too short for us so I really hope the players can step up and work harder in training.”
Commenting on the disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Kedah, Irfan said that his side “could have performed better”.
“Kedah scored from the one chance they had in the match. We were defending too deep and that left space for them to exploit and get their goal,” said the 67-year-old.
“Parthiban did well to score but I think he needs to be braver when he has the ball at his feet.”