KUALA LUMPUR: Being tagged as early favourites for the Premier League title worries Felda United coach B. Sathianathan.
Felda are effectively a Super League club playing in the second-tier and Sathinathan is concerned his players may think they are too good for the rest of the Premier League.
After beating MISC-MIFA 3-1 in a friendly in Bangi on Friday with Thiago Augusto Fernandes scoring a hat-trick, Sathianathan warned against underestimating any team in the Premier League.
"We hope to become champions and return to the Super League but the biggest problem is the mentality," said Sathianthan, whose club was relegated despite finishing third in the Super League last year due to a failure to meet club licensing regulations.
"We are so used to playing in the Super League that the players think it will be easy in the Premier League. There is a tendency to switch off against the smaller teams and we have to change this mindset ourselves.
"It is easier to be motivated when playing against Johor Darul Ta'zim than the other teams, football is like this. But we have to be switched on a day or two before any match."
Sathianathan is happy with his squad and does not intend on adding any more players after luring striker Gilberto Fortunato from Perak SEDC and defender Thiago Junio Aquino from Perak as well as signing Philippines midfielder Iain Ramsay from Ceres-Negros.
New local signings include Christie Jayaseelan, Ahmad Syamim Yahya, Azreen Zulkafali and Khairu Azrin Khazali.
"The commitment in the squad is very high and I'm not planning to bring in anymore players," said Sathianathan, who led Armed Forces to the Premier League title in 2012.
"I have a small squad but picking a first XI is going to be a headache."
Sathianathan views Penang and JDT II as among the strongest in the Premier League while not discounting the threat posed by the likes of Felcra and MISC-MIFA.