MS ABDB VIEW INDERA AS TITLE THREAT
Hamizan Aziz Sulaiman of Indera SC (L)
challenges MS ABDB captain SLD Affendy Hj Akup during the DST FA Cup final in December 2012.Picture: BT file |
ROYAL Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council
(MS ABDB) manager Major Azaman Hj Husin yesterday claimed rivals Indera Sports
Club are their only threat to their DST Super League title ambitions.
MS ABDB clinched their first silverware
of the season when they defeated DST Super League leaders Indera Sports Club
1-0 in the DST FA Cup final in December, so the two teams are certainly no
strangers.
Third in the 10-team table, MS ABDB
currently trail Indera on goal difference and with only three rounds of action
left, have a good shot at winning the league.
Speaking to The Brunei Times ahead of his
team's clash against basement dwellers Najip FC tonight, Major Azaman said that
Indera were the only team capable of stopping their charge for a double.
"I think that Indera and us have
that gap over the Royal Brunei Police Force Sports Council (MS PDB) and Majra
FC," said Major Azaman of the second and fourth-placed teams.
"It will be difficult to think the
two of us will collapse in the remaining matches (so) I think it will be
between the two of us," he added.
Approaching the final few games of the
season, Major Azaman knows it will be important to give some key players a
break since there are some tough matches ahead and injuries could affect their
title hopes.
"We still need to face strong teams
like Indera and QAF FC, so we will need to rotate the players and keep the team
fresh for each game," said Major Azaman.
"I will make some changes for
tomorrow's game against Najip no question.
"I will rest a number of key players
including captain SLD Affendy Hj Akup, left-back KPL Mohd Haizul Rani Metusin
and goalkeeper SLD Mohd Tarmizi Hj Mat Johari.
"We will need to do that as they are
very important players for us.
"Moreover, they are still recovering
from injury, but I will probably keep my (other) experienced players up front
as we need to win and score goals," he added.
Though Najip lost their last game 20-1 to
a merciless Indera, Major Azaman knows that resting too many players for tonight's
game could lead to trouble.
"We are not going to take the game
lightly as Najip are one the top-10 teams in the elite national league this
season, and we respect them for that," he said.
"We dropped two points against Majra
(on Monday) and we should not allow that to happen again," he insisted.
Key players including Haizul Rani and
Affendy were all absent in the game against Majra, which ended 2-2 at the
Balapan Track & Field at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in
Berakas. KPL Mohd Hardi Hj Matassan and SLD Md Baharin Hamidon found the net
for MS ABDB on the night, but the match was the first time the soldiers had
dropped points all season and let in more than a goal in a game.
Najip have undoubtedly had a tougher week
after the record 20-1 thrashing by Indera, the defeat leaving them still
searching for their first points of the season.
"We had a very difficult week and
the players are not in a good spirit after the Indera defeat," said
manager Najip Hj Moktal.
"Tomorrow we will go up against
another strong team in the league. It is always difficult to play against MS
ABDB but we will try our best to get something out of the match tomorrow."
Kick off is at 8:15pm at the Hassanal
Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.