Up to the tusk
Elephants will go on attack mode against Southern Tigers
PETALING JAYA: Pahang will not park the bus in the second leg of the FA Cup quarter-finals against arch-rivals Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Baru tonight.
The Elephants hold a two-goal cushion against the defending champions following their 3-1 triumph in the first leg at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan on April 1.
But the Larkin Stadium is a fortress for the Southern Tigers, who are unbeaten in 33 matches in all competitions since their 2-1 loss to Felda United in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals way back in 2015.
Pahang are extra cautious after their latest trip to Larkin ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat in a Super League match on March 3.
Pahang skipper Matthew Davies is expecting a fierce backlash from the homesters but believes his team have the quality to come out victorious.
“Obviously it’s a difficult task at hand but we are confident with the team’s ability,” said Davies.
“It’s about going there and executing our game plan and coming away with the result we want,” said the rightback yesterday.
“It will be an extremely difficult game, everyone knows what they are capable of, especially, at Larkin. I think the small lead we have is crucial, we will do everything to protect it.
“We should not be too worried about JDT because we got a lot of strength in our team, as well. We have to be wary but to go there and defend wouldn’t be the game for us.”
JDT, who are looking to defend the FA Cup and earn a direct slot to the AFC Cup competition next season, took a massive gamble by resting their key players including talismanic skipper Safiq Rahim in the 3-0 win over Cambodia’s Beoungket Angkor in their penultimate Group F match in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Davies said that the Elephants will be as fresh as the JDT’s rested players as they are playing on Sunday.
“We are ready as we can be as we had a nice eight-day break,” added the Malaysian international.