Football
Kelvin Leong 9y

Hodak out to address Johor's leaky defence in Malaysia Cup

Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) coach Bojan Hodak says he is ready to overturn a 4-3 deficit from the first leg when his team play host to Felda United in their Malaysia Cup semifinal second leg match at the Larkin Stadium on Saturday.

The Southern Tigers' defensive frailties were exposed by Felda's fearsome strike duo of Makeche Ndumba and Edward Wilson Junior. So the likes of captain Aidil Zafuan Radzak and Fadhli Shas will need improve on their performance in order to thwart the attacking threat from the visitors.

Hodak had to leave Marcos Antonio, Safiq Rahim and Lucian Figueroa out of his starting lineup in the first leg due to injuries, with the latter coming on in the second-half.

As reported in the New Straits Times, Hodak is adamant that his team can make their home advantage count, having won 12 and drawn six matches at Larkin stadium in all competitions this year.

He said: "The match was entertaining for the fans but not for the coach. Losing is not a problem but doing so this way is not good. We only conceded two goals in 10 matches before this match and I expected my players to keep up the record,

"I am upset that we conceded four goals in one game against Felda. And to do that against a team, who played almost the entire second half with ten players is quite unsetting.

"However, we were unlucky as several players were injured. I salute Figueroa for making a difference in the second half despite being weak from food poisoning."

As for Felda coach Irfan Bakti, the affable coach is ready refusing to look beyond the 90 minutes. He has warned that his team need to attack and get a goal in order to stop Malaysian Super League champions JDT from regaining control in the tie.

"Yes, we won 4-3 at home but the advantage is with Darul Ta'zim as they netted three away goals. They only need a 1-0 win to progress into the final.

"I will have to reshuffle as winger Syamim Yahya and Nasriq Baharom are both suspended. However, I have able replacements and we will not hold back. We will play attacking football," said Irfan.

Kedah FA will entertain defending champions Pahang FA in the first semifinal on Friday with Tan Cheng Hoe's men holding a 3-1 advantage from the first leg. They will be hoping to make it to their first Malaysia Cup final since 2008.

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