Irfan: It’s time to live up to our Fighters nickname

PETALING JAYA: Felda United players have been told to live up to their nickname – The Fighters.

Felda coach Irfan Bakti wants his men to show their fighting spirit as they seek to continue their revival from a run of three losses and a draw which had seen them fall from second spot to sixth in the Super League.

Felda did well to halt that slide with a 2-0 win over Sarawak in Kuching last Saturday. The win moved them up a spot to fifth in the standings.

Now, Irfan wants his men to continue with the winning form as they entertain winless Sime Darby at the Selayang Stadium today.

It shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Felda as Sime Darby are having a wretched season thus far, having managed only three draws after 12 matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table with three points.

But the 64-year-old Irfan knows it would not be wise to allow over-confidence to creep in and instead has warned his charges not waste goal-scoring chances that come along.

“Nothing is ever easy ... not even against a team like Sime Darby,” said Irfan.

“We have to stay composed and not rush things ... like we did against Sarawak. We could have scored seven or eight goals last Saturday. So, we have to make sure every shot counts.”

Felda will be without Australian forward Ndumba Makeche, who has to serve out a one-match suspension after collecting three yellow cards. He has scored six goals this season.

But at least they’ll have the services of Brazilian Thiago Augusto Fernandes, who has scored three goals since joining the Fighters in late April.