PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Cup champions Kedah have gone three matches without a win.
But coach Tan Cheng Hoe is confident they can end their wretched run when they host Terengganu in the first-leg of the FA Cup semi-finals at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Setar on Sunday.
“We are slowly getting back our momentum,” said Cheng Hoe after watching his team fight back from a goal down to hold Perak to a 1-1 draw in a Super League match at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh on Wednesday.
The Red Eagles had earlier suffered back-to back defeats.
They were thrashed 5-0 by T-Team in a Super League match at the Sultan Ismail Stadium in Kuala Terengganu on April 15 before losing 1-0 to Premier League side Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) in the FA Cup quarter-finals return-leg tie on April 21. Kedah qualified 6-2 on aggregate.
“I can see that the players have recovered from the back-to-back defeats. They showed great determination to fight back from a goal down to hold Perak 1-1 in the last game. It is an encouraging sign before the FA Cup semi-finals against Terengganu,” said Cheng Hoe.
Kedah will be led by their inspirational foreign signings – Kosovan midfielder Liridon Krasniqi, Danish striker Ken Ilso and Brazilian midfielder Sandro da Silva, who were all retained from last season.
Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti did not rule out the possibility of them pulling off a surprise win over “a strong” Kedah side.
“There are no favourites when it comes to the FA Cup. We are going on equal terms and if we can get an away goal then we should be in the driver’s seat for the return leg in Kuala Terengganu.
“We have been doing well and should give our Super League opponents a run for their money,” said Irfan.
The Turtles are second in the Premier League with 24 points from 11 matches – three behind leaders Negri Sembilan.
The only setback for the east coast side is that they won’t have suspended midfielders Abdul Latiff Suhaimi and Lutfulla Turaev of Uzbekistan for Sunday’s game.
