Tomislav wants Turtles to seal knockout stage spot

PETALING JAYA: Terengganu coach Tomislav Steinbruckner main mission is to avoid defeat against group leaders Central Coast Mariners in Gosford, Australia, today to advance to the AFC Cup knockout stage.

Steinbruckner’s Turtles toppled Mariners 1-0 at home in Gong Badak in their opening Group G match on Sept 20 but the Australia club had gone on to win their next three games.

Terengganu, who are second behind Mariners with eight points, need to secure at least a point at the Industree Group Stadium before their final game against Bali United on Dec 13.

Steinbruckner said Terengganu need to regroup after a 0-4 defeat to Sabah in a home Super League Games on Nov 24.

Although the Malaysia Cup final against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) will be the major target for the east coast giants, Steinbruckner said tomorrow’s game is crucial to keep their AFC Cup campaign alive.

“We have the Malaysia Cup final (on Dec 8) which is our main target but the match against Mariners is also an important target,” said Steinbruckner.

“We did surprise them in the first match. We know the quality of the Mariners, who have good individual players, but we are not too bad ourselves and we must demonstrate that quality in tomorrow’s game.

“I expect my players to give their maximum as we must take some points tomorrow if we want to advance to the next round.

“We have about four players in the first XI who are injured during our last Malaysia Cup match against Pahang and we will face the same problem here.

“But we saw the nice stadium and a nice pitch here and we are motivated to play well.”

Meanwhile, Terengganu skipper Habib Haroon said that he and his teammates are excited to be playing against Mariners who have been having a great run in the AFC Cup.

“The AFC Cup and the Malaysia Cup are our two targets and everyone is excited to come here and play the Mariners who are one of the strongest teams in the competition,” said Habib.

“After thinking about how well we played against the Mariners in the first game, I have been waiting for this match with excitement.”

Terengganu would be delighted to at least survive with a point today as they can peacefully set their sights on halting JDT’s unbeaten run in domestic competitions when they clash in the Malaysia Cup final at the National Stadium next week.