Beware Kedah’s fighting spirit, says Alberts

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KUCHING: Sarawak will have to be very cautious of Kedah’s fighting spirit when they lock horns tonight in Group B match of the Malaysia Cup competition at Stadium Negeri.

Ramesh Lai Ban Huat (left) is expected to return to action tonight, bolstering the Crocs’ defences. — File photo by Muhd Rais Sanusi

Head coach Roberts Alberts, who has reminded his players about this, is expecting Kedah to go all out and give their everything to secure at least a point after losing all their group matches so far.

“One thing for sure is that if Kedah still wants to remain in the Malaysia Cup competition this year they are expected to play tomorrow’s match as if it is their last. We should do the same too because we are in this competition with ambitions to win it,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday.

Looking at the Group B standings, Sarawak are now in third place as they share the same points with Terengganu and are seperated only by goal differences after playing two matches so far, winning their first match 3-2 against the Turtles last week and losing 2-0 to Perak on Wednesday.

Only top two teams of each group qualify for the quarter-finals and Sarawak are keen to match their performance in the competition last year, finishing as semi-finalists after being beaten by eventual champions Pahang.

Hence a win is a must for the Crocs tonight while they hope to see Perak edge or at least draw with Terengganu to realise a chance in returning to second place and subsequently maintaining the top two placings.

On the team’s preparation for the match against Kedah, Alberts revealed that he has no other choice but to let the players recover and rest before the match.

“We do not have much time to do other things as we have only two days. It is a tight schedule and we have to make good use of the time we had before we play against Kedah tomorrow,” he said.

Although the Crocs did not pick up any injury from the last match against Perak, the former Kedah coach was however concerned about his players as some of them received hard knocks on Wednesday.

On a positive note, Alberts noted that the team might start with the same line-up against Perak previously with the inclusion of defender Ramesh Lai Ban Huat as he returns from injury.

His absence was clearly felt during the last match and his return should do well to bolster’s Sarawak’s defences against Kedah.

Ramesh is expected to return to action tonight after being injured during the match against Terengganu last week.

Another defender Mafry Balang is however doubtful but he will be assessed before the match.

The match is scheduled to kick-off 8.45pm tonight.