Satia plays underdog in Borneo derby
IT’S the Borneo derby, and Sarawak United interim coach B. Satiananthan is playing mind games ahead of their Super League clash against Sabah in Kuching today.
Satiananthan is not picking his own team as the favourites but pointed out that Sabah, coached by Ong Kim Swee, have the stronger squad with several former internationals in their ranks.
However, Satiananthan didn’t waste time in saying that Sarawak could spring a surprise on the Rhinos.
Sarawak will be without three senior players - Amer Saidin, D. Christie Jayaseelan and S.Chanturu - as they still have fitness issues.
“Sabah have quality players and some of them had played for
the national team. They are in good form based on their performance in the last two matches.
“They even have experienced players like Amri (Yahyah) and most of them had worked under Kim Swee previously. Sabah have a very good squad.
“We made our debut in the Super League this season and most of our players have only Premier League experience.
“However, I think we can upset anyone, including Sabah, on a good day as long as the players work hard and show their fighting spirit.”
Sarawak started their Super League campaign with two losses to Kedah (1-0) and Johor Darul Ta’zim (6-0) before holding Penang to a 1-1 draw last Tuesday, for their first point of the season.
Sarawak, who retained most of the players from their squad that finished second in the Premier League last season, have signed
Francis Kone, Gonzalo Soto, Ahmad Khairil Anuar Ahmad Zamri, Zharmien Asyraf Ismail and Raja Imran Shah Raja Amin for the 2022 season.
Though the Golden Hornbills are still without a win after three matches, Satiananthan believes they can meet their target of avoiding relegation.
“We will focus one match at a time. Our target is to remain in the Super League and I believe we can achieve it,” he said.