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Head coach V. Sundramoorthy insists that Singapore have a strong chance of beating group leaders Bahrain in Tuesday's 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier, having pushed "stronger" Lebanon all the way in last week's friendly. An early Lebanese goal was enough to see off the Lions in Thursday's match at the National Stadium. But, despite the fact that Singapore have now gone 12 games without a win, Sundram saw plenty of signs of encouragement and believes that his side can get the better of Bahrain, having held them to a 0-0 draw when they faced them in March. "If you compare Bahrain to Lebanon, I think Lebanon are much stronger," Sundram said. "And if we can limit a team like Lebanon to just one goal, I think we can be positive about the Bahrain game. "We can go on to battle for full points in that match." Singapore sit bottom of Group E on two points, meaning they are out of contention for a place in the United Arab Emirates -- unless there is an extremely unlikely sequence of results. But Sundram is staying positive and thought that the team's display against Lebanon proved that they were making progress. "I believe our boys battled hard, and we really should have taken those few chances that we created," Sundram said. "But you can see that Lebanon are a strong team with very good technique. "We've been playing against strong teams, but performance-wise, you can see that the boys are improving, and they are motivated." While Sundram remains upbeat, the fans may be less optimistic. The turnout at the National Stadium on Tuesday will provide a strong indication of whether or not the Singapore public buy into Sundram's view that the Lions are indeed on the right track.
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