PKNS a Super team again
City Stadium yesterday.
(on the ground) celebrates his goal with teammates in their Super League match at PKNS will take time to savour their success on the pitch this year after sealing their return to the Super League on Friday with a 2-0 win over Kuala Lumpur.
Johor’s 0-0 draw with DRBHicom earlier in the day meant PKNS were assured of promotion before kicking off in Selayang, with their victory merely a formality.
PKNS finished runners-up to Premier League champions Malacca in a season in which they also reached the FA Cup final for the first time, losing 2-1 to Darul Ta’zim, and progress to the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals.
“We are happy with what we have achieved this year and I thank the players and management for their support. This team took two years to build and now we have reached the Super League which is a great achievement for the club,” said PKNS coach E. Elavarasan (pic) after steering the club back to the topflight following their relegation in 2014.
“We have not planned yet for next year because we were focused on finishing this year on a high after competing well in all competitions. We will take a break first and then think about what we need to do for next year.”
While Elavarasan did not want to be drawn on which players will be retained, PKNS have their work cut out in attempting to keep playmaker Gabriel Guerra, who earlier in the season had been spotted in the company of Darul Ta’zim officials.
Guerra’s 23 goals in all competitions highlighted his importance to PKNS while striker Juan Manuel Cobelli scored twice against KL to take his tally to 22 goals.
PKNS also have Liberian striker Patrick Wleh, who is on loan at Selangor, under contract until the end of 2017.
“Management will decide on who to retain but most important is that the players are well rewarded for this achievement,” said Elavarasan.
“Of course the Super League is more competitive compared to the Premier League. So we need a team of similar standard in order to compete.” By Devinder Singh