Perak thank MFL for ‘respite’ after AFC Champions League feat

PETALING JAYA: Perak coach Mehmet Durakovic (pic) has welcomed the Malaysia Football League’s (MFL) decision to postpone their Super League match against Kuala Lumpur tonight.

The Perak Football Association made a last-minute request to postpone the match as they just played Hong Kong’s Kitchee in the AFC Champions League preliminary stage match on Tuesday.

The Seladang prevailed 6-5 in a shootout after the match ended 1-1 after extra time at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh.

Perak will next take on South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai in a playoff to qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions League at the Ulsan Munsu Stadium on Feb 19.

Durakovic said he is thankful to MFL chairman Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin and the Kuala Lumpur FA for agreeing to postpone the match.

“We played through extra time against Kitchee, we had several of our players injured and on top of that we don’t have a big squad. So it’s tough for us to recover in time for the KL game,” said the former Australian international.

“We created history by qualifying for the playoff round to play Ulsann Hyundai which will be another tough match for us, so I need to thank everyone who agreed to postpone this match.”

The postponement also benefits Kuala Lumpur who are rumoured to be signing new players following long-term injuries to their centrebacks Khair Jones and Indonesian Achmad Jufriyanto.

Durakovic said that the postponement is a win-win solution for everyone.

“We had injuries to our players in the Kitchee game, we now have longer time to prepare for the Ulsan game.

“I believe the decision is favourable to KL too. They also have injuries to their players, so they will have longer time to recover before their next game.”