JDT counting on home advantage in Tampines tie

JOHOR BARU: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) will be banking on home advantage when they take on Singapore’s Tampines Rovers in their AFC Cup Group H match in Larkin Stadium.

Tonight’s match would also see the Southern Tigers return home for the first time following the shocking departure of Portuguese head coach Ulisses Morais and Jorge Diaz late last month.

Southern Tigers captain Safiq Rahim downplayed Diaz’s exit saying that it had no affect on the team’s overall performance as the harmony between the players were getting better.

“We have been playing four away matches in all competitions, starting from Vietnam’s Song Lam Nghe An and recently against Terengganu in the Super League,” he said.

Safiq said JDT’s main focus against Tampines Rovers would be to get the three points in their quest to qualify for the next round in the AFC Cup tournament.

“We will be playing at our own stadium and the players would go all out to get a win against them,” he added.

In the last meeting, Tampines managed to hold JDT, which fielded mostly their second string players, to a scoreless draw at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on March 6.

JDT interim coach Raul Longhi said striker Luciano Figueroa would definitely not be playing as the Argentinean is still nursing an injury.

Meanwhile, Tampines head coach Jurgen Raab warned his players not too take JDT lightly in the game.

“Last match was a good performance from my players but JDT have a big squad with good players and with the crowd behind them, we might see a different side,” he said.