Pressure on Sabah to beat PKNS FC today
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah must win against PKNS FC today if they want to stay in the top half of the Youth Cup League Group A standings.
The match will be happening at the PKNS Sports Complex in Selangor and Sabah team manager Azman Mastar expressed hope that there would be continued improvement after efforts made to rectify weaknesses in the squad.
“I also hope the players don’t make silly mistakes and put the team in jeopardy. If they can play their best and minimise the mistakes, I think the chances of winning will be brighter,” he said when contacted yesterday.
According to Azman, Sabah must win the match to maintain pressure on the top two while at the same time attempting to distance themselves from the teams below.
Sabah are currently third on 14 points from four wins, two draws and one defeat.
At the top spot are Terengganu FC IV (18 points), while Kuala Lumpur are second with just a one-point advantage over Sabah.
PKNS, who are Sabah’s opponent today, are fourth on 11 points, followed by Cougars B16, PKNP FC and Pahang, who each have 10 points, while the bottom three teams are Selangor (five points), Felda United FC (four points) and SSBJ B16 (three points).
Meanwhile, Sabah will be strengthened with five players from the Under-21 squad. They are Joslan Aping (goalkeeper), Mohd Hizaz Lokman (striker), Mohd Syukri Baharun (midfielder), Gerald Gadit (defender) and Muhammad Syamil Nizam (defender).
The five are likely to be in the starting line-up with Leonardo Lisua, Owen Piou, Mohamad Sahrizan Saidin, Andrew Beckham Jamry, Abdul Hanafie and Muhammad Faqhrurazi.