Rahman hopes for a good run by Sabah Rhinos

KOTA KINABALU: Assistant team manager Rahman Zakaria hoped the two opening victories could be a catalyst for Sabah to enjoy a good Premier League 2015 campaign.

The Rhinos started with a 2-0 win over Kuala Lumpur before showing great determination to edge KL DRB-Hicom in a 3-2 comeback win.

And Rahman believed the good start have given them an early edge towards achieving the desired target, although at the same time he warned the team not to be carried away.

“There is still a long way to go for the season but certainly the victories showed the revival of the team.

“I hope it will the early steps to ensure the team is on the right track (in the league),” he said here yesterday.

Commenting further on the perfect start, Rahman put it down to team combination, close cooperation and spirit of togetherness that brought the maximum points.

Apart from that, the role of the fans too did not go unnoticed, which Rahman said have played a huge impact on the players’ overall performance.

“In addition to the progress made by the team, the supporters’ faith in the team has boosted the players’ morale and made them determined to fight even harder for Sabah Rhinos.

“The local players have shown good fighting spirit along with the foreign imports in (El-Hadji) Diouf, (Abdoulaye) Faye and Eamon (Zayed).

“The Rhinos need the fans support to achieve more victories,” he added.

On the match against DRB-Hicom, Rahman was full of praise for the squad, especially deep-lying midfielder Azzizan Nordin.

“For the game the other night (Friday), I picked Azzizan as the man-of-thematch...Diouf of course provided the spark up front.

“I want to add and stress here that (head coach) Justin ( Ganai) and the coaching staff always work hard to make sure the players fielded are the best,” he said.

For the record, the stocky Azzizan scored after 70 minutes to put Sabah level 2-2 against DRB-Hicom and four minutes later Shafuan Adli Shaari scored the winner.

Ivan Babic and an own goal from Faye had put DRB-Hicom in front twice after Diouf had cancelled out Babic’s opener.

Sabah are level on six points with current leaders Johor Darul Takzim II a nd Neger i Sembi l a n but inferior goal difference saw them sit in third place.

The Rhinos will have the chance to extend their winning streak when they take on winless Selangor UiTM away on February 20.