KELANTAN coach Bojan Hodak is confident his weary players will be fired up when they take on Kedah in the return leg of the FA Cup semi-final in Alor Star today.
The east coast side were held 1-1 in the first leg, with Kedah holding an away-goal advantage.
Kelantan are determined to get their act right in the FA Cup after failing to win the title on two occasions, losing to Selangor and Terengganu in the 2009 and 2011 finals.
They are riding high in the Super League and also the AFC Cup, where they are title contenders in both competitions and a place in the FA Cup final will be the icing on the cake for them.
The instrumental Mohammed Ghaddar and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha are expected to lead Kelantan's attack against Kedah, and Hodak believes his side will score today.
Kelantan, however, may face a problem holding up at the back as defenders S. Subramaniam and Daudsu Jamaluddin are suspended while injured midfielder Badri Radzi, who is also the captain, is doubtful.
"Statistically speaking, the odds look good as we have only failed to score once in our last 15 matches," said Hodak yesterday.
"We are seeking to score goals to win or at least clinch a high scoring draw to qualify for the final. It will not be easy though, as Kedah will have home advantage this time and their players are not be as tired as ours."
Kelantan have been playing non-stop of late due to their involvement in the AFC Cup but Hodak has done well by rotating his players.
"The FA Cup is important to us as that is the only cup missing from our trophy cabinet. I want my players to go all out tomorrow (today)," Hodak added.
On paper, Kedah hold the advantage as a 0-0 draw will earn them a spot in the final but coach Wan Jamak Wan Hassan does not want them to defend today.
"I want my players to go for goals. We cannot defend against Kelantan as they have a good strike force. Yes, we have to be cautious but not defensive," said Wan Jamak.
Kedah have won the title three times before but the closest they came to adding to that was in the 2010 season, where they were beaten by Negri Sembilan in the final.
"Only Abdulfatah Safi is nursing an injury but the French midfielder started training yesterday (Sunday) and he should be fit for this match. None of my players are suspended," added Wan Jamak.
By: NST
0 comments:
Post a Comment