SEREMBAN: Young forward N. Thanabalan is optimistic that his beloved team Negri Sembilan can win their upcoming Super League matches and realise their aim of remaining in the top flight of Malaysian football for next season.
Thanabalan said that even though they have failed to keep a winning momentum going in their last two matches, it does not mean that the team’s performance is down in the dumps.
“The failure to keep on winning one match after another is because a couple of the team’s stalwarts could not play because they were out injured, such as what happened when we went down 0-2 to Perak away in Ipoh and at the time they were missing the services of 27-year-old Argentine forward Nicolas Velez and 30-year-old Brazilian center-back Alex Moraes Gomes.
“If all the first team players can play, then most definitely the team’s performance would be very, very different. However for the next match, we cannot keep on giving excuses because winning is very important to ensure that we can lift ourselves out of the relegation zone.
“Whatever it is, I am still optimistic that through proper and better planning, and more commitment in training under coach Mario Lemos, we can play much better and record more positive results for the remaining seven league matches after the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri break ,” he said here earlier today (Tuesday).
According to Thanabalan, whatever the obstacle or challenge, mathematically they will need to win at least four of their remaining matches to achieve their goal of remaining in the Super League for next season.
The challenge for them continues with their next match against Pahang at home on June 19 (Tuesday).
The 23-year-old player who hails from Rantau has managed to score three goals so far, and he is determined to form a more effective partnership with 34-year-old Filipino main striker Angel Guirado to score more goals for the team after this.
“I realise what stands in our way to defend and uphold the team’s pride and honour, and things will only get even more difficult as the end of the season nears.
“Personally, of course I do not want Negri Sembilan to get relegated to the Premier League next season, and my teammates and I will go all out to ensure that we’ll continue to play in the Super League,” stressed Thanabalan.