Ahmad is confident of fitting in well in Terengganu

PETALING JAYA: Versatile midfielder Ahmad Syamim Yahya (pic) believes his familiarity with coach Irfan Bakti will make it easier for him to settle in with the Terengganu football team.

The winger, who previously played under Irfan for Felda United for three seasons from 2014-2016, reckons that the pressure and expectation is higher with the Turtles for the 2019 season.

The East Coast side frustratingly lost the Malaysia Cup final to Perak, going down 1-4 in the shootout after the match ended 3-3 in October.

They also finished fifth in the 12-team Super League and reached the stage round of the FA Cup.

“The expectation is high for the team to deliver a silverware after missing out on lifting the Malaysia Cup last season,” said the 28-yearold Ahmad.

“The management has retained most of the players and enhanced the squad with several new signings including me.

“I know most of the players as we played against each other before and some of them were my former teammates.

“Coach Irfan is someone who knows me and my abilities very well, so I’m confident he will get the best out of me.”

Terengganu started their pre-season training two weeks ago and retained most of last season’s players.

Terengganu have also retained Lee Tuck, Kipre Tchetche, Thierry Chantha Bin and Igor Zonjic for the new season and are expected to add a player from Uzbekistan to complete their foreign legion.

The team will have a pre-season tour in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from Jan 13-18. They are scheduled to play top Vietnamese side Ho Chi Minh, Binh Duong and amateur side Troung Giang.