Our Bulls will take their first step towards what is hoped to be a long and fruitful Singapore Cup campaign on Saturday, when we visit Jurong East Stadium to face Albirex Niigata (Singapore).
But if fans are expecting a repeat of the 3-0 romp we had when we met them back in March, be warned: if anything, it will be much harder.
That may seem difficult to believe looking at the league table, where Albirex currently rest third from bottom after mustering just ten points from ten matches.
But it bears noting that all ten points had come from their home ground, including a stunning 1-0 victory over Home United and a 2-2 draw with DPMM FC, which could so easily have been a win for the Japanese side too.
Indeed, the one time they had failed to get even a point at home was against Sengkang Punggol, but that was in only their second game of the season.
Since then, Naoki Naruo's boys have been able to settle down much better, and even though they are struggling to string together results, there can never be any doubt over the committed and hard-running performances they put up without fail.
Our heroes cannot allow themselves to slip to anything below their best, lest Albirex mete out swift punishment through Akira Takase or Kenji Adachihara.
Fortunately, there are still some indicators that suggest we can do well against them. One such indicator is the fact that we had only fielded three foreigners out of the four we were allowed to use for that game.
Now that Gam Seehawong is fit and ready to make an impact, he will leave coach Darren Stewart with the tactical dilemma of who to drop between Kingsley Njoku, Emmanuel Emuejeraye and possibly even midfield enforcer Goran Subara.
Definitely OJ Obatola will be expected to take his place among our brave fighters, unless of course injury intervenes and force him out of the starting eleven.
Our defensive line is another strength to rely on, after skipper Sevki Sha'ban, Bah Mamadou and the others have worked hard to ensure we have conceded just six goals so far this season.
As long as Sevki and Bah do their part to close down their opponents, there is no reason why the team cannot overcome Albirex and march on into the next stage!
GFC
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