Shaky Protectors host confident Rams

Syahrom Sulaiman 
info@sleague.com 

It is not often that you see Home United languishing near the bottom of the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League table, but having played six games already this season, the ninth-placed Protectors will host a Woodlands Wellington side that is hovering two spots above them at the Clementi Stadium this Monday.

In defence of the hosts, PN Sivaji’s men had to entertain AFC Cup duties as well as the domestic matches.

Furthermore, SAFFC and Gombak United, the current first and second-placed teams respectively, were some of the first few difficult fixtures that Home United had to face.

However, against the same two sides, the Rams mounted an amazing comeback to defeat the Warriors 3-2 and they were minutes away from a victory over the Bulls before Agu Casmir equalized for his side right at the death.

The difference in the recent results for the both teams means that the Rams are actually in good form at the moment but team manager Jeykanth Jeyapal refuses to be complacent.

He said, “We are realistic about our targets this season. We are prepared to go out there and compete and up until now, the only blip in our season in terms of performance was when we were defeated by Albirex because we just traveled back from Brunei for the game and the players looked jaded.

“But let’s be mindful here. In our first few games, we did not have the rub of the green and the results did not come. Our team spirit has always been high but the players were short on confidence then.

“We have shown recently that we are no pushovers and we will be competing, to the best of our abilities, against one of the best teams in Singapore.

“The club is fully supportive of the coach and the team and I am confident that we will give them (Home United) a run for their money,” Jeyapal commented.

The Rams will have to face the Protectors without their Iranian forward Mojtaba Tehranizadeh, who was given his marching orders in the game against the Bulls, and midfielder Shahri Musa, who is recovering from his motorcycle accident and will probably be fully recovered in three weeks’ time.

Tehranizadeh’s suspension will be a huge blow because the only other established out-and-out striker on the Rams’ books is Egyptian Zakaria Yousif.

Winger Jamil Ali could be an alternative up front for coach Nenad Bacina, but surely the coach must realize that Jamil can do a lot of harm from the flanks rather than with his back towards the goal.

The strikers’ department also seems to be a cause of concern for Protectors’ head coach PN Sivaji, albeit not because of a lack of capable personnel.

Norikazu Murakami, Kengne Ludovick and Shi Jiayi are some of the established S.League stars that Sivaji can call upon for goals. However, as highlighted by him in their previous 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Young Lions, they really need to start converting their chances more efficiently.

He pointed out, “If we performed against Woodlands the same way when we played the Young Lions, I would be very happy.

“The passing was good, a lot of goalscoring opportunities were created and we were in control of the game. However, we are going through a rough patch of not scoring goals at the moment and it is something that we need to address before our next game,” Sivaji said.

Ismail Yunos is still unavailable for selection due to injury but apart from that, it is most likely that Sivaji will select the same side that faced the Young Lions last Wednesday.

This time around though, Sivaji will definitely expect a different type of result.