PETALING JAYA: Negri Sembilan are likely to resort to an all-local attack against Kuala Lumpur in their Super League encounter at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi today.
The game, which was suspended in the 28th minute on March 11 due to inclement weather, will resume today, with both sides starting from where they stopped.
Negri Sembilan, who have been winless in the last four matches, want to get back to winning ways but have been dealt a blow as French centreback Herold Goulon (medical problem) and Brazilian striker Casagrande (knee injury) are out.
Both had started the match on March 11.
Casagrande, especially, will be missed as he has been the target man for the club, scoring three goals and opening up play for other players to score.
Coach K. Devan (pic) revealed that he had no choice but to go for full local flavour today, with Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi leading the line-up. He will be assisted by the likes of Mahali Jasuli, Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak and Sean Selvaraj.
“They will have to start, but I know these boys can do the job. In Malaysian football, the imports make the difference but I believe in the local boys. Eky (Shahrel) is now fully fit, so that is good,” he said.
“During the break, we worked on a new formation and style of play because we have fewer imports. Right now, we only have Levy Madinda and Safuwan Baharuddin as fully fit foreigners.
“Sean is also back, and we have Kancil (Hafiz Ramdan), who can make an impact when given a chance. In addition, our physical conditioning is much better now.
“Kuala Lumpur are on a five-game winning streak, but we are playing at home, so we will take advantage of that.”
Negri are ninth in the league with 10 points from nine matches, while Kuala Lumpur are sixth with 15 points from nine games.
Devan hopes his side will get better with some reinforcements, especially foreigners, after the second transfer window in July.
“We are ninth now, but we can be better with reinforcements. Let’s make some signings in the transfer window.”
