Warriors gunning for New Radiant

Male', MALDIVES -
Captain Aleksandar Duric expects Singapore Armed Forces to bounce back from their first loss of 2008 when the S-League champions entertain New Radiant of the Maldives in an AFC Cup Group E encounter at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday.

SAF saw their run of 11 consecutive wins in the S-League and AFC Cup come to a halt when a stoppage-time goal condemned them to a 3-2 defeat against Super Reds on Sunday.

But while disappointed to see the team's perfect start finally come to an end, Duric felt it could spur them on to even greater heights this season.

"It's just a part of the game. It's not good to lose but it's a wake-up call to us for our next game," said the naturalised Singapore international striker.

"It's a long season, we've still got many games to play this year and despite the loss, we're still only one point off top spot in the S-League, so it's not too bad.

"I think so far it's been great this season. The team is playing well and from our results, you can see that we've been scoring a lot of goals because we've been playing good attacking football."

SAF coach Richard Bok hopes that his charges can learn from their recent setback as they look to build on their perfect record in the AFC Cup.

"It was good to get the loss out of the way but then again, we have to learn from some of the mistakes we made and try to rectify them," said Bok.

"So far, it's been quite smooth for us in the AFC Cup and credit must go to the team. They've worked very hard and they played according to the plans and that's the result.”

Apart from forward Ashrin Shariff, who will have to undergo a late fitness test on a tight hamstring, SAF have a fully fit squad although Bok will be concerned with fatigue as his team face their fifth game in 16 days.

Opposite number Gerd Zeis faces a very different problem with no competitive fixtures other than the AFC Cup at present for his side.

Defender Adam Shareef will also miss the game following his sending off in New Radiant's first meeting with SAF in Male.

"Our cup competition is over and we are now preparing for the leagues season which begins in June so we only have these three AFC Cup games now," said the German, whose team have yet to register a point in Group E.

"We also have another problem as the national team is now playing in the Asian Cup qualifiers and I only have half of my team training with me.

"We've done some technical training and played some friendly games but it is difficult when the national players come back, they are tired and have injuries.

"But we're looking forward to this game and we don't want to leave empty-handed."


Source: The AFC