ALOR SETAR: The failure to control the flow and tempo of the match in the first half and conceding three goals early on in the second half wrecked any chance Terengganu had of bouncing back during their Super League match against Kedah at the Darul Aman Stadium in Alor Setar last night (Saturday).
The Turtles interim coach, Mohamad Nik, a former midfielder during his playing days for both Harimau Malaya and Terengganu, said that he was disappointed that his charges kept losing possession of the ball in midfield especially in the first half, as well as their failure to put a stop to Kedah’s attacking forays into their half.
“Our shortcomings enabled Kedah to succeed in scoring two goals in the first half no thanks to mistakes made by our players, a penalty and the other after an error made by our defence.
“But I have to acknowledge that our players did try to bounce back especially in the second half, but in our quest to get on the scoresheet we endured a lapse in concentration and our opponents managed to capitalise on it to counter-attack and score yet another goal.
“The way we played in the second half represents the philosophy that we are trying to instill by playing a fast paced game, however I have to admit that Kedah seemed to have better players of a higher quality,” said Mohamad, who admitted that they are suffering from not having influential midfield maestro Lee Tuck who is out injured.
Mohamad also admitted that at present, Terengganu just cannot rely on Ivorian striker Tchetche Kipre, who still has not rediscovered his form as his barren spell is extended to nine matches after last night’s loss.
“Actually we cannot just depend in Tchetche to score goals, as during the match against Kedah last night (Saturday), Tchetche did work very hard to find the back of the net but it just failed to materialise.
“But at the same time, Tchetche has already been warned for the second time from the team’s management, and he has to the next three matches to show a marked improvement in his performance before any further action will be taken,” said Mohamad.
“The three matches where he will be evaluated has actually already begun, it started with our match against Perak SEDC last week, so he has only one more match to prove to the team’s management that he can turn things around for himself, and this will be our next FA Cup match,” Mohamad revealed.
Terengganu have dropped a lot of points in the Super League this season and their only avenue to salvage some pride is in the FA Cup competition.
“I am really hoping that our players will step up their efforts to do well in the FA Cup because we are already in the third round and we’re just one step away from the quarter-finals, after which it’s just a few more steps to the final.”
“The team’s management have set us the target of being in the top five in the league and lifting at least one piece of silverware for this season. So we must step things up immediately if we are to improve on our poor league form and position, not forgetting our quest to lift a cup as well in the process,” Mohamad pointed out.