KUCHING: Sarawak will meet Sabah in today’s Borneo derby to be held at State Stadium, Petra Jaya. The match start at 8.15pm.
But the Crocs will miss the services of winger Azizan Saperi who is down with injuries and is expected to be out of action in coming months.
The player sustained injuries on his left knee during last week’s away match against Kuala Lumpur which saw the Crocs narrowly defeated the city boys 1 – 0 to maintain its current unbeaten run.
Under doctor’s orders, Azizan who is the younger brother of Crocs’ skipper Sahrol Saperi, is skipping the next three coming matches in order to recuperate from the injuries.
Todate Crocs has four good players on the long term injuries list namely Ashri Chuchu, Dzulazlan Ibrahim, Ahmad Aminuddin and the latest is Azizan.
Chief coach Robert Alberts is obviously disappointed with the prospect of losing another good player but he is not pushing the panic button just yet.
According to him, the show must still go on and the team must use the present crop of players for the remaining matches to go.
He said this is the time for players to remain focused with the task in hand and to maintain their good form despite the shortcomings faced.
Alberts had hinted that the Crocs may have to scout for a new player to overcome the deficit due to the growing injury list but such measures will only be made possible when next month’s transfer window opens.
The Dutchman will also have to secure the blessings from Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) for such plans to materialise.
With 23 points in hand and sitting pretty at the number two slot of the Premier League table, the Crocs will still need to work even harder for the remaining matches.
Whether they like it or not, the present unbeaten run cannot guarantee safe passage to the next round when other teams may beef up their starting lines when April comes.