Sabah's Butler ready to blood more youngsters

JOHOR BARU: At stake is a place in the quarter-finals but Sabah coach Peter Butler is willing to take the risk and throw untested young talent into the fray in tonight's second-round second-leg FA match against Penang at Kota Kinabalu's Likas Stadium. 

The two Super League sides square up against each other on an equal footing after a 1-1 stalemate inthe first-leg at the State Stadium in Batu Kawan on March 26. It was a match which saw Butler slammed the Penang players for “play acting” in order to get their opponents booked. 

In that match, Sabah's leading scorer in the Super League, Josiah Seton, was sent off after an off-the-ball clash with Penang's national defender Abdul Aziz Ismail. The Liberian will miss tonight's match. 

Butler is not letting Seton's suspension stand in the way as he plots the Rhinos' match strategies against the Panthers, who have just one win in the league so far.  

Sabah, on the other hand, head the league with nine points from three wins and one defeat. 

Sabah are also unbeaten at home in the league and will be out to extend the streak to the FA Cup. Their latest win in Likas was their come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Kedah on April 3. 

Butler has given broad hints that he will field one or two young talents as part of his team building process.  

The Englishman has given the trust to unknown Ronny Harun, Bobby Gonzales, Joey Ryan Gundok and June Azral Lalah this season and the players have rewarded him with impressive displays. 

Tonight, Butler could throw 18-year-olds Sumardi Hajali and Maffri Balang into the fray. Butler said: “If they are good, they are good. They will need to handle all sorts of pressure, including the a home crowd sooner or later.”