Nafuzi wants Turtles to turn the tables on leaders JDT

Terengganu coach Nafuzi Zain wants his men to ignore Super League leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) red-hot form and turn the tables on the reigning champions in their top-of-the-table clash.

The Turtles restarted their M-League campaign by beating Petaling Jaya City and Sabah and scoring six goals in the process.

But a shock 1-0 loss to Melaka last week has piled on the pressure for Nafuzi’s men when they host JDT at the Sultan Mizan Stadium in Gong Badak on Friday.

The Southern Tigers are riding high after thrashing Perak 7-0 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium last week to put them six points ahead of second-placed Terengganu who have 10 points.

Although, it is against the odds, Nafuzi will be rooting for a victory at home to keep the Turtles breathing down the Tigers’ neck.

“The records and the stats are daunting but if we look too much into it as it could affect our confidence when we face JDT,” said Nafuzi.

“We know who we are playing against ... a side who do not have many weak points but like any other teams in the world, they are not perfect.”

“We are the underdogs but we have the quality to upset any teams ... and it is up to the players to deliver what they can do. We have the capabilities to cause JDT some problems.”

The former international also refused to blame his prized Mauritanian striker Dominique Da

Sylva (pic), who fired blanks, for the surprise loss to Melaka. Da Sylva is currently the top scorer with seven goals from six matches.

In fact, Nafuzi said his team did not play too badly against Melaka although the loss would act as a timely wake-up call for his men.

“I don’t think my players performed badly against Melaka ... we committed an error and our opponents scored the winner,” said Nafuzi.

“The loss is a reality check for us. Da Sylva was tightly marked although he didn’t score, he still contributed to the play and tried his best. And I know he will go all out against JDT.”