Big spending Armed Forces FA (ATM) have three key players grounded by conjunctivitis ahead of their 2015 Malaysia Super League (MSL) opener at home against George Boateng's Kelantan on Saturday.
Speaking to ESPN FC, coach B. Sathianathan confirmed that centre-back Norfazly Alias, winger Christie Jayaseelan and midfielder Mohd Affize Mamat are grounded for the game at the Selayang Stadium in Selangor having contracted the virus. In their absence, Raja Mohd Ridzuwan, Venice Elphi and Azmeer Yusof will be given starting roles in a 4-4-2 formation, Sathianathan revealed.
"Luckily we have some depth in our squad this season, unlike last season, to deal with such crisis," said Sathianathan. "We are also lucky that our first two matches are at home. Hopefully we can get good results against Kelantan and Perak on Feb. 14, which will get Armymen across the country following the team's fortunes. We need to build support as we go along as we do not have the loyal fans base which the state based teams can boast of."
Sathianathan predicted that both teams will start out cautiously. "We have a good set of individuals this season and so do Kelantan. Both teams have new signings and the teams will be cautious during the first 20 minutes. The team that makes the least mistakes will win."
Talking to ESPN FC last month, Sathianathan had stated that his team would aspire for a top three finish in the 2015 MSL season. The Gladiators have made several high-profile acquisitions during the off season to improve substantially on their disappointing tenth place finish last season.
Prominent among the new arrivals are star Malaysia striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and the four foreigners, namely Honduras World Cup striker Jerry Palacios, Nigeria born forward Abdulafees Abdulsalam, defender Obinna Nwaneri and former Brisbane Roar midfielder Mario Karlovic (signed from Terengganu FA).
Sathianathan predicted that the match would feature a mouth-watering contest within a contest for MSL fans between Kelantan's former Adelaide United centre-back Jonathan McKain and his new striker Palacios, brother of Premier League defensive midfielder Wilson Palacios.
"Both have played for their countries and have played in competitive international leagues, so this would be an intriguing sub-plot," said Sathianathan, who predicted last month that Palacios will set the MSL on fire this season.
In Saturday's other MSL games, LionsXII will host PDRM, Sarawak will visit Felda United. Perak and Terengganu will host Sime Darby and Selangor respectively.