Time to wake up: Sathia wants players to overcome Terengganu

PETALING JAYA: Felda United coach B. Sathianathan hopes his players will snap out of their slumber ahead of their first leg Malaysia Cup quarter-final match against Terengganu at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium in Jengka.

The Fighters suffered a heavy 6-1 loss to Melaka in their final Group B match at Stadium Hang Jebat last weekend and Sathianathan did not want another slip-up from his team today.

The Premier League side are still weakened by an injury crisis and are set to be without winger Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor, midfielder Hadin Azman and Brazilian striker Thiago Fernandes.

Defender Thiago Junior will also have to undergo a late fitness test before the match.

Sathianathan said he was aware of the threat from the Turtle’s foreign attackers Kipre Tchetche (Ivorian) and Lee Tuck (Englishman) but he was more concerned over Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti’s knowledge of Felda’s local players.

“The loss to Melaka is a wake-up call for the team.

“They were a bit shaken in the match as we didn’t have Fernandes to lead the attack but now they have accepted that the show has to go on no matter who’s playing,” said Sathianathan.

“I think our players can match Tchetche and Tuck ... they are only dangerous if they have space and time. If we play well, we can stop them from inflicting damage on us.

“We’ll have to rely on our locals for this match because we only have two imports out of four available in this game and Irfan who has coached Felda before, knows our local players well.”

Sathia added that despite the overwhelming odds, he believed his team could pull off a surprise.

“The players are capable of getting a positive result if they play to their real abilities.

“We have no pressure, our target is to win the Premier League and earn promotion to the Super League this season, which we have achieved,” he said.