Point to ponder as Felda fight to escape relegation

PETALING JAYA: Felda United coach Nidzam Jamil is in no mood to celebrate.

Despite holding Terengganu to a 1-1 draw at the Tun Abdul Razak Stadium on Saturday, the Fighters are still bottom in the Super League.

Terengganu took the lead through Mohd Nabil Latpi in the 83rd minute before Felda’s Kei Ikeida, who came off the bench in the second-half, scored a late equaliser in the 88th minute.

Felda are facing relegation in the 12-team league with just nine points, with eight matches remaining.

Nidzam was happy with the performance of his youngsters but admitted that Felda are in dire straits.

“Azim Rahim, Sadam Hashim and Zahril Azri put up fine displays despite their inexperience. I’m also happy with the overall performance but the fact is we’re still bottom.

“We must get points off Pahang in our next match. We can’t afford to lose any more points,” said the former international.

“Although one point is better than nothing, it still doesn’t solve our problem ... we need to get away from the drop zone soonest possible.

“We put Ikeda on the bench because he played in a lot of matches. I told him he’ll play towards the end or when the situation doesn’t favour us.”

The result also halted Terengganu’s slump after two heavy defeats, going down 5-3 to Petaling Jaya City and 4-0 to Pahang in the second leg of the FA Cup quarter-finals last week.

Interim coach Mohamad Nafizi Zain, who took over from Irfan Bakti who quit abruptly last week, said the team are in the midst of rectifying their shortcomings.

“Overall I’m happy with the outcome - there’s an improvement compared to the last two matches,” he said.

“We controlled the match and created a lot of chances but the lack of concentration towards the end enabled Felda to steal a point.

“Our next game is against Selangor at home. It’ll be difficult as they have recently signed a good player and seem to be on form now.”