| Fadhil Yunus |
DPMM FC will be hoping to establish some ground on Balestier Khalsa in the race for seventh when both sides lock horns in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S League at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium tonight.
The ‘Gegar Gegar’ men are two points behind the Tigers with a game in hand but can leapfrog them with a win and climb to seventh for the first time since April.
The Balestier clash will not be touted as “the biggest game of the season” as the head coach revealed that every game until the end of the season will be as big as the next one.
“I wouldn’t say it is the biggest game because all games are big when you’re in a position that we’re in. We want to get into a better position,” said Kean in an interview with the Bulletin after a training session at the Jerudong Mini Stadium yesterday.
“Last week was what you would call a six-pointer because your immediate opposition is closest to you in the table. This is the same. It’s a six-pointer but if we win and they lose, obviously we make ground on them with a game in hand so it’s certainly a six-pointer.
“I don’t know about being the biggest game but I see from now and the end of the season, every game is a big game. We want to finish the season very strongly.
“We let ourselves down on numerous occasions with not getting results even though sometimes performances have been good. What we need to do now is get ourselves in a position to score goals, get results and climb the table,” he further added.
The head coach added that their 2-2 draw against the Tigers at the Toa Payoh Stadium did not necessarily contribute to the team gaining a new lease of life illustrating instead that they should take confidence from the performances closer to the Balestier game.
“What we should focus on is the games that we’ve been closer and not the last game we’ve played against Balestier. It’s more the game that we played against Young Lions especially in the second half or the game we played away from home against Hougang.
“It’s those games that are closer to when we’ve played Balestier last time. Those are the games that you take confidence from and that you can relate to more than the game that has been many months ago.
“We did okay in that game but we’re focussed more of keeping the momentum going we created over the last two games,” the former Blackburn Rovers manager said.
He also warned his charges not to repeat the slow start as evident in the Garena Young Lions game and called his charges to play in a similar vein during the later periods. DPMM FC import Vincent Salas will be absent through suspension while Maududi Hilmi Kasmi has been ruled out of the season following an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
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