Preview: Brunei DPMM FC vs Young Lions

DPMM looking for fresh start Rano Iskandar info@sleague.com The slate is wiped clean for DPMM FC as they prepare for their impending clash with the Young Lions this Saturday evening at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium. Widely considered as underdogs when they were brought into the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League this year, they had gone on a breathtaking run of 11 games without defeat, which saw them shoot to the top in the league table and book their place in the RHB Singapore Cup quarterfinals. But their first loss of the season, away to Home United by a 0-2 margin last week, has reset the counter, and it will be a fresh start for them as they face the side against whom they had opened their league campaign. Head coach Vjeran Simunic is confident his players will bounce back from that humiliation to fight for the top four places in the league, and he has good reason to be, if the statistics are anything to go by. DPMM have a 100% record at their daunting home, having most recently beaten back the challenge of SAFFC with a 2-1 victory to give Simunic the perfect birthday present. For the Young Lions to become the first team to steal a point out of the stadium, they will have to put their demoralising 0-5 loss to the Super Reds earlier in the week behind them. But if there is one team who knows all about losing an amazing unbeaten run, it must be the Young Lions. Only three years ago, the side had gone on a streak of 12 league games without defeat, making them the unlikely dark horses in the title race that season. The bubble burst for them in a 2-3 defeat to Home, a blow from which the side, then coached by Fandi Ahmad, never really recovered as they eventually slumped to a distant third in the table. Goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma’at is one of the few survivors from that squad, but he is unlikely to take part in this game against DPMM as he has only recently recovered from injury. Also out of action is Young Lions captain Obadin Aikhena, who was sent off against the Super Reds and will have to serve his suspension. The handicaps will undoubtedly please Simunic, who wants his team to produce a repeat of their season-opening performance and take every advantage of playing on their own turf. “It’s not easy to come back from the defeat but we have the character to move forward,” he declared. “Our players are confident and they can’t wait for the game. “I was angry with our last performance but we missed all our top defenders through suspension. We lost concentration after 60 minutes. But today we have the full squad so I’m happy to have my first eleven playing. “Young Lions is a young team, sometimes good, sometimes different. They drew with Geylang United and Woodlands Wellington and we respect them, but we have no need to be afraid.” Abdel Hamid Berguiga will retain his first-team status and keep Korean import Oh Ddog Yi on the bench as Simunic deploys the same starting line-up that beat SAFFC. Azwan Salleh, a key midfielder for DPMM, has recovered from an injury sustained before the last match and he will be a vital figure to add more steel to DPMM’s compact midfield. That means Hardi Bujang will have to content himself with a place on the bench alongside Oh, as Simunic counts on his best men to do the job he wants. And that is nothing less than a win to keep his team breathing down the necks of co-leaders SAFFC and Gombak United.