JDT hungry for win in ACL on new home ground

JDT captain Harris Harun during the press conference at National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) skipper Hariss Harun wants to extend his team’s home record with a win against Suwon Bluewings in their second AFC Champions League (ACL) Group G match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium tonight.

The Super League champions were handed a 1-5 trashing by Group G leaders Vissel Kobe of Japan in their opener in Kobe on Feb 12 but it was at their old stadium.

The Southern Tigers inaugurated their new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in style by beating Kedah 1-0 in the Charity Shield match last Saturday and Harris is plotting another home run against the South Korean team.

“The winning start at our new stadium has given us the confidence to face Suwon, ” said Harris.

“We’ve lost the opening game (against Vissel Kobe). We’ve always started slow in the past years but that’s not an excuse anymore.

“We always want to challenge ourselves to be better than we were before.

“We’ll go into every game wanting to win... regardless we are playing a superior or a weaker team.

“We look at it as an opportunity to make a name, achieve great results and tomorrow (today) is no different.

“We’ll go out there to do our best and try to get the result.

“We expect a lot of contact, running and we need to cover for each other, there’s plenty of hard work needed in this game.”

JDT are also hoping to take advantage of the South Koreans’ lack of competitive matches due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The postponement of the K-League left Suwon with only one competitive match under their belt, which is their ACL defeat to Vissel at home on Feb 19.

But that also leaves coach Benjamin Mora with a unique problem as they do not have enough input on how the South Koreans play.

“We anticipate a tough match. They have good players and are hard workers.

“We watched their Vissel game and they didn’t have the chance to kill Suwon in their last game, ” said Mora.

“Their previous game (before the Vissel match) was last November... it will be hard to predict their style of play but they have a good DNA and they are surely faster than the Japanese.

“But our preparation is very detailed and we are confident that we can push and fight.

“Some of the players are still recovering from a tough Kedah game but they will be ready for tomorrow, ” said the Mexican.