The Singapore football season is headed for a nail-biting finale with two simultaneous kick-offs on Friday night to decide who will be crowned 2014 S.League champions. Warriors FC will take on Albirex Niigata Singapore while Brunei DPMM FC face Tampines Rovers FC.
Both teams are level on 50 points but Steve Kean's DPMM FC will lift the trophy at Jalan Besar stadium if they beat Tampines due to their superior goal difference over the Warriors.
Alex Weaver's men will need to go all out for a victory at the Choa Chu Kang stadium against Albirex and hope that Tampines do them a favour and stop DPMM FC from securing a win.
Weaver's men have already secured their place in the AFC Cup Qualifying Playoffs, as the top ranked local team in the league this year. But they can go one better and make it into the AFC Champions League Qualifying playoff should they lift the S.League trophy come Friday night.
Star duo, Nicholas Velez and Miroslav Pejic -- they have 33 league goals between them -- will lead the line for the Warriors while in form goalkeeper Hassan Sunny will be called upon to thwart Albirex's dangerous Kento Nagasaki and Kazuya Okazaki.
At the Jalan Besar stadium, former Blackburn Rovers manager Kean will have to make do without star striker Roy O'Donovan who is suspended following his red card against Albirex in the previous game. But the battle for the 2014 top scorer award is still an intriguing one. His club mate Rodrigo Tosi (23 goals), Albirex's Kazuki Sakamoto (21 goals) and Warriors' Nicholas Velez (21 goals) are all still in the running to win the prestigious individual award.
Also missing due to suspension for DPMM FC will be seasoned campaigners, Azwan Ali and Abdul Aziz Tamit, while Tampines will be without Japanese defender Kunihiro Yamashita.
Speaking to ESPNFC, Warriors coach Weaver said: "I don't think we need to work on that [getting the team focused on the game instead of the title race] as the players have been very focused not just for this game but the last few weeks. We have explained and talked about the situation and now we just need to play our own game and see what happens from there."
When asked for his thoughts on how the Warriors have fared over the course of the season, Weaver was quick to give a thumbs up for the strong spirit that has been created at the Choa Chu Kang stadium.
"I introduced a few new ideas when I arrived at the club and the players and staff responded really well to my methods, which is why I am pleased with the season as a whole. The key point for this club has been unity as I have mentioned on many occasions this year and coupled with how the foreign players have bonded well with the local boys, it was really just a matter of keeping everyone focused to get the best out of this squad." added the Englishman.
One day left, two matches to decide where the S.League title will end up. Will the Warriors FC keep the domestic trophy in Singapore for another year or will Brunei DPMM FC become the second foreign club after France's Etoile FC to claim S.League honours?