Giant stride needed

KL must find motivation to overcome Selangor in Klang Valley derby

PETA L I NG JAYA: Kuala Lumpur coach Yusri Che Lah (pic) wants his boys to stand up and deliver in the Klang Valley derby against Selangor on Sunday.

Yusri admitted he’s under tremendous pressure to keep his squad motivated ahead of their home clash with the Red Giants.

KL are bottom of the 12-team Super League without a point after four matches. They have only scored two goals and conceded 10.

In their last match, they played well but two quick goals in the first half saw them suffer a 2- 0 loss to Melaka last Sunday.

“I’m happy with my players’ performance against Melaka. It was a positive display and they fought hard throughout the match but sadly, luck was not with us,” said Yusri.

“Results wise, I’m definitely not happy.

“We have to be more aggressive against our next opponent to break our duck.”

To add to their woes, Brazilian hitman Guilherme de Paula has been ruled out for two months with a calf injury.

The City Boys faced several injury crises early in the season and they also replaced Indonesian centreback Achmad Jufriyanto with Luke Woodland of the Philippines just before the transfer deadline on Feb 20.

“No coach wants to suffer defeat after defeat. I accept the loss to Melaka as we’re still lacking in many areas,” said the former international.

“The pressure is mounting on me but I don’t want to show it to the players because morale right now is low.

“The chips are down but we have to fight on.”