PETALING JAYA: Terengganu will aim to put behind their Malaysia Cup final heartbreak with a strong performance in their last AFC Cup Group G match against Bali United at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium today.
The Turtles are second in the group with nine points after five matches and a point behind leaders Central Coast Mariners from Australia. The other two teams in the group are the eliminated third-placed Bali United with seven points and Stallion Laguna who have a point.
The unbeaten Terengganu side now need to beat Bali and expect Filipino side Stallion to do them a favour by beating Australian side Mariners in the Binan Stadium in the earlier kickoff.
Head coach Tomislav Steinbruckner (pic), who looks set to continue taking charge of Terengganu next season, said that dropping points to Stallion where they were held to a 2-2 draw in Kuala Terengganu on Oct 28 was a blow for the east coast side’s hopes of advancing to the next round of the AFC Cup.
“If we look at the table we can win. If the Mariners beat the Stallion, they will go to the next round,” said Steinbruckner in the pre-match press conference yesterday.
“We took four points from the Australians but we drew with the Stallions. All the teams beat them but we played for a draw and that match made the difference.
“We will follow that match which is being played early but we will focus on ourselves. If results in the Philippines are good but we don’t do our job, it’s also useless,” he said.
But it’s easier said than done with the team plagued by injuries following their 1-3 defeat to Johor Darul Ta’zim in the Malaysia Cup final last Friday.
Striker Ivan Mamut and defender Azam Azmi Murad missed training on Monday while young defender Ubaidullah Shamsul is out with a knee injury picked in the loss to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
“Ivan didn’t train on Monday, he was not feeling well and had an infusion in the hospital. I’m a bit worried because after the Malaysia Cup final, the players were psychologically spent as they gave their best but lost,” said Steinbruckner.
“Every match is important as we want to keep the unbeaten record. My main intention is to put players who are ready to play, I know the players are strong enough.
“For the match tomorrow, it will be the same as in the first leg, it will be tough as Bali have improved and they are second in the Indonesian League.”
