| Fadhil Yunus |
DPMM FC head coach Steve Kean will be cautious with the danger posed by Balestier Khalsa in set plays when the pair clash in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S League at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore tonight.
The head coach stressed the importance of avoiding needless fouls and conceding corners.
Kean has acknowledged the strengths of the Tigers despite languishing in a lowly 8th place.
Balestier Khalsa head coach Marko Kraljevic’s philosophy is alien to the Scotsman having featured against them on numerous occasions during the years.
“Marko’s teams are always organised. They’re quite direct so I don’t expect them to be building the ball too much from the back and try to start the play,” said Kean in an interview with the Bulletin after a training session at the Jerudong Mini Stadium on Wednesday.
“They get the ball forward and they’re good at it. They’re good at picking up the second balls and they’re very dangerous on set plays.
“We need to stay on our feet and not make silly fouls around the box or give simple corners away because they’re really dangerous.”
When questioned if it will take a different mentality of coping with the pressure in registering their first away win of the season, Kean has indicated that he is not overly concerned.
“It’s like any game. As soon as you get a victory then the confidence comes back into the side. It’s amazing what a victory does”.
Steve Kean conducting training yesterday. – KHAIRIL HASSAN
“We didn’t play bad at all against Home United and Albirex but we didn’t get points and obviously that brings then a little bit nervousness inside the team.
“But I think getting the victory the other evening against Hougang you can see now all the confidence flooding back to the team so it’s just about recovering and now trying to get back-to-back wins and let’s try go on an unbeaten run and try get that run to last as long as possible.”
The Scotsman is not deeply concerned by the lack of chances especially with the abundance of quality in attack.
He said his main focus lies in having his team record a clean sheet.
“The biggest thing that we need to have in the very front of our mind of the whole team is let’s get another clean sheet because I’m always confident that we’ll get chances.
“You’ve got Billy Mehmet, Ramazotti, and Azwan Ali and now we’ve got midfield players who can strike the ball really well with Param (Azwan Salleh) and Azam.
“We can score from crosses because we’re so tall. The biggest focus and the biggest approach to the game is can we make sure that we start with a clean sheet obviously and if we do I think we’ll win,” the former Blackburn Rovers manager added.
The head coach also labelled his attacking players “as good as anyone in the league” after commending the physical presence of both Billy Mehmet and Rafael Ramazotti.
Kean also confirmed that there are no new injury concerns ahead of the league clash.
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