Aidil reminds in-form Kedah they’re far from ideal
Coach Aidil Sharin will continue to keep Kedah’s nose to the grindstone despite scoring their fifth win on the trot in the Covid-19 disrupted Super League.
Forced to play away from their home venue at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar by the virus outbreak in the state, the Red Eagles had no problem swatting aside Sabah 3-1 at the Cheras Football Stadium on Monday.
Kedah opened the scoring through Kpah Sherman (26th minute) before Dennis Buschening drew level for Sabah (27th) but the Red Eagles swooped down hard on the Rhinos in the second half with goals from Tchetche Kipre (71st) and Fayadh Zulkifli (75th).
Kedah are now second in the 12-team standings with 16 points from eight matches, six points shy of leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) with three more matches to play.
“We don’t compare ourselves with JDT as they are on a different level. They have good players and management ... everything is superb there and that’s why they deserve to be the leaders.
“We just focus on our game, each game is important and it’s not easy to be where we are especially with all the problems we are facing,” said Aidil.
“The team spirit has been fantastic, they never back down despite the problems, and the management is slowly settling the issues. It’s good to see things improving.”
The Singaporean added that the substitution made the difference and praised winger Fayadh for his contribution.
“The credit goes to the players, they worked hard for the win ... it was not easy to play on the heavy pitch, it’s not our home but we played like the game was in Alor Setar,” said the former international.
“The first 30 minutes were not the best, we were a bit unsettled. Sabah pushed us hard, they’re a bunch of workaholics. We made some changes in the second half by substituting some players and those who came on made the difference.
“Fayadh is a young player. He’s a big potential. Earlier in this season he was underperforming. We did a lot of training sessions with him and he has improved a lot.”