PSMS Medan coach Liestiadi Lo is confident his side can bounce back from their opening AFC Cup game defeat last week with a victory against Malaysian side Johor FC at Jaka Baring Stadium on Tuesday.
The Indonesians opened their Group F campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at South China of Hong Kong.
Their fortunes in the Indonesian Super League have also been disappointing with Medan languishing at the bottom of the table.
But Liestiadi is not looking at past form and believes his side are capable of securing a result against Johor.
“It is the first time we have participated in a continental competition but we are confident that we can measure up to any opponents,” he said.
“The match against South China in Hong Kong was our toughest match in this group and we have now put it behind us for better results ahead.”
Liestiadi’s concerns, however, have been worsened by a number of injuries to his squad with Markus Horison, Asi Akbar and Andhika Yudistira all injured.
Meanwhile, Johor coach Ramlan Rashid insists his side will take a cautious approach to the game as he fears a possible backlash from Medan as a result of their opening game defeat.
The Malaysian side battled for a goalless draw at home to VB of the Maldives last week and Ramlan believes another point in Indonesia will be a good result.
“They (Medan) will definitely be out to make up for a disappointing start,” he said.
“If we get a draw, I will consider getting an away point a good result. A win will be a bonus and a further boost to the confidence of the team.”
In the other game in the group, South China will be keen to maintain their impressive start with another win at VB.
After a disappointing AFC Cup campaign last year in which they managed just a solitary win, the Hong Kong side were impressive in their opening game this year against Medan.
But coach Kim Pan-gon believes the game in the Maldives will prove a different challenge for his players.
“Their environment is different to Hong Kong so we need to keep the players well rested,” he said.
“We will watch a video of our last game and decide tactically the best way to prepare for this game.”
VB club manager Ibrahim Rasheed has called for his players to improve their form in the final third after wasting numerous opportunities against Johor last week.
“We had around 10 opportunities to score a goal and Dhagey (Ali Ashfaag) was brought down twice inside their penalty area," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment