Turtles face tough hurdle against wounded Warriors

GEORGE TOWN: Terengganu could not have asked for a more difficult fixture to kickstart their Malaysia Cup Group C campaign.

After failing to get going in Tuesday’s surprise 2-0 loss at home to Negri Sembilan, the Turtles have no choice but to get a positive result when they take on defending champions Kelantan at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru today.

Terengganu coach E. Elavarasan acknowledged the magnitude of the task, but is confident that his players will rise to the challenge.

“Tuesday was a huge disappointment as nothing went right for us against Negri.

“The forwards were guilty of poor finishing and we even missed a penalty through the usually reliable Abdul Manaf Mamat.

“But there’s no use crying about the defeat. Our task now is to head to Kota Baru with the aim of collecting points,” he said yesterday.

With Kelantan being held to a 1-1 draw by Pahang in their opening match in Kuantan, Terengganu are the only team in Group C without any points.
Elavarasan admitted that the Red Warriors will also be going all out in front of their strong home support.

“Tomorrow’s (today’s) match will be important for both teams as neither side won our first matches. It will be a tough challenge ... we have no choice but to go there and get a good result,” he said.

“The east coast derby between the two teams have always been passionate affairs.

“I hope my players will not collect many cards against Kelantan as suspensions can derail our chances of a top-two finish.”

There is no love lost in matches between Kelantan and Terengganu. The last time the two east coast neighbours met in a high-profile clash was in this year’s FA Cup semi-finals.

Kelantan won the first leg in Kota Baru 4-1, but found themselves trailing by the same scoreline in Kuala Terengganu before producing a controversial late winner through Nigerian striker Dickson Nwakaeme to prevail 6-5 on aggregate.