Nauro confident of Home test

Gary Koh
infor@sleague.com

Albirex Niigata (Singapore) are high in confidence as they seek their second successive home win at the expense of Home United on Saturday.

Their strike partnership of Akira Takase and Kenji Adachihara shared the goals as the White Swans beat Woodlands Wellington 3-0 in their last game to record their first three points of the season.

The duo accounted for all the four goals scored so far and will be looking to score more past Home goalkeeper Lionel Lewis who has not been in his best form of late.

Head coach Naoki Nauro is satisfied the two strikers have been doing their part and wants the goal scoring itch to rub off the rest of the side.

“There are others who can put the ball at the back of the net, apart from Akira and Kenji,” he said.

“As forwards, when they score the goals, they help our team to become stronger and more confident on the pitch. Our morale will also increase as well.”

Like Lewis, the visitors are not in good form lately, with only one win in their last four matches in all competitions.

Unlike the hosts who had more than one week’s rest, the fatigued Protectors are playing after flying back home on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Thailand’s Provincial Electrical Authority in the AFC Cup at Bangkok on Tuesday.

Despite their opponent’s woes, Nauro refuses to take them lightly. “Even though they (Home) did not have good games lately, their players possess good ability,” he cautioned.

He is counting on his side to improve on their winning performance from the last game. “It does not matter how they play, we will have to use our style of attacking football,” he said.

“As we are playing at home, we have a 50-50 chance of taking all three points. Thus we will play more attacking football to please the home fans.”

While Nauro has no major injury concerns to worry about, his Home United counterpart P N Sivaji will be without long-term injury casualty Ismail Yunos (ankle).

Apart from the national team defender, he is looking to freshen up his lineup and may give Prime League boys such as Shahdan Sulaiman and Firdaus Idros the run-out.

“Having such a tough schedule where we have to play two games a week in successive weeks does take a toll on our players,” he admitted.

“Some of the older players might not be able to cope and will need to get some rest. We have six Prime League boys who have some S.League experience and can contribute to the team when the need arises.”

The former national coach is also looking to get things right on the domestic front after a 1-1 draw with Gombak United and a 3-1 loss to Singapore Armed Forces FC saw his side lie joint-fifth in the league.

“We have already dropped seven points from four games already, so it is about time we are going to go for wins to climb up the league table starting from tomorrow,” he declared.