PETALING JAYA: PKNS coach Abdul Rahman Ibrahim reckons that it is time for his side to make an impact when they start their Malaysia Cup Group B campaign against hot favourites Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) at the Shah Alam Stadium tomorrow.
PKNS finished a respectable eighth in the Super League and had beaten the other two teams in the group – Felda United and T-Team – twice this season, making them the favourites to finish second in the group.
The former national coach said it is about time for PKNS to advance to the quarter-finals after failing in the last four editions of the Malaysia Cup.
“This is the perfect chance for us to finally make it past the group stages and we must get the job done this time,” said Abdul Rahman yesterday.
“The players are OK and injury free. We played a number of friendly matches with mixed results and I’m happy with the team’s performance in those friendlies.
“We need to work harder, it’s as simple as that. T-Team and Felda United didn’t play well in the Super League but I believe they will be much more determined side in the Malaysia Cup.”
Commenting on the match against favourites JDT, Abdul Rahman said that they will be out to spring a surprise against the FA Cup finalists.
“We will have our full squad for the match and I believe that we have the ability to beat JDT,” said Abdul Rahman.
“We want to start our campaign with a win at home. We have beaten Super League champions Lions XII twice in the league and the FA Cup at home so I don’t see why we cannot beat JDT.
“JDT are a team of superstars and they will be in a confident mood ... maybe over-confident so we must make sure we take advantage of the situation to punish them.”
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