How about that: Terengganu’s Akhyar Rashid celebrates after scoring the third goal for the Turtles in their 3-2 win over Negri on Tuesday. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Terengganu secured three points in their 3-2 win over Negri Sembilan in a Super League match on Tuesday but it wasn’t enough to ease head coach Tomislav Steinbruckner’s concerns.
The Croatian coach has his worries over the players’ fitness as his side will face a tough test against Selangor in the second leg of the FA Cup semi-finals at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium this Saturday.
He hopes they will be physically fresh for the game.
“The players are now in a state of fatigue with a lack of fitness after going through a relatively busy schedule lately,” said Steinbruckner.
“We will focus more on recovery and how to prepare the team as some of the players are injured.
“Alif (Zakaria) is out. I hope Ismaheel (Akinade) and Shahrul (Nizam Ros Hasni) can come back.
“Steenvordeen (Matthew Steenvordeen) is not bad but he’s not fully fit and must work hard.
“But it’s understandable because after seven months here, he has only played two games after a long recovery from injury,” he said.
Terengganu’s goals came from Safawi Rasid (45th), Nnabuike Chukwu Chijioke (49th) and Akhyar Rashid (59th) while Mika Junco (16th) and Jacque Faye (53rd) put their names on the scoresheets for Negri.
“Congratulations to my team for getting three points tonight but we seemed tired,” said Steinbruckner.
“Negri controlled the game in the first 20 minutes and scored a goal due to our mistakes. We managed to create some chances and scored in the end through Safawi’s freekick.”
The win at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium allowed Terengganu to collect 11 points, putting them in third position, seven points behind leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
Given the situation facing Terengganu, Steinbruckner acknowledged the need to come up with a stronger strategy against Selangor in their mission to secure a spot in the FA Cup final.
“We got a 3-2 result (in the first semi-final match) and we are ready to face a tougher challenge to qualify for the final.
“Selangor need to score two goals to win. I hope we can create chances. To advance to the final, we need to play better,” he added.
