Football
Kelvin Leong 9y

S.League: Warriors captain Daniel Bennett ready for title defence

Captain Daniel Bennett will be ready to defend the S.League crown when Warriors FC kick off their domestic campaign this Sunday against Singapore Cup winners Balestier Khalsa FC in the Charity Shield at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The veteran defender was an integral part of his team's charge to the title last year - Warriors won the title with 53 points, three ahead of Brunei DPMM FC -- and is hoping for more of the same team spirit when they face the Tigers at the weekend.

"Last year, no one gave us a chance. Some clever pundits even predicted we would finish 11th," Bennett told ESPN FC. "We are not favourites again, but we have a strong belief within our squad."

Both teams come into the game on the back of AFC Cup defeats. Warriors went down 3-1 at home to Persipura while Balestier's maiden foray into the regional tournament saw them suffer a 3-0 away loss at the hands of Hong Kong's Kitchee United.

Although they won the title, Alex Weaver's team failed to beat Balestier in their four encounters last season. The teams played three times in the league with two games ending in draws (1-1 and 2-2) with a Goran Ljubojevic penalty in the 84th minute sealing a 1-0 victory back in October.

In last year's Singapore Cup knockout stages, Balestier humbled their hosts at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium with a 3-1 score line after Zulkiffli Hassim, Park Kang Jin and Ljubojevic got on the scoresheet.

The two clubs took a different approach in the off season. Warriors kept faith in their foreign legion while Marko Kraljevic has dropped all his overseas players with the exception of Serbian defender Emir Lotinac.

Kraljevic has worked his contacts to bring in striker Miroslav Kristic to fill the void left by 20-goal forward Ljubojevic with former Hougang United defender Igor Cerina recruited to shore up the defence alongside Lotinac.

The biggest loss for the champions is in goal with 2014 S.League player of the year Hassan Sunny leaving for Thai Premier League side Army United. Defensive lynchpins Ismail Yunos and Zulfadli Zainal have joined rivals Tampines Rovers.

Despite the loss of these experienced local players. Warriors captain Bennett is still hopeful that his team have what it takes to stay at the top and secure a record tenth league title.

The English-born defender said: "The players we lost are good players including Agu [Casmir]. But we are not thinking about last year. We can only focus on what is ahead of us. Our unity is one of our best strengths and will continue to be so. The new faces have now settled in and we have the advantage that not too much has changed. Other teams have made massive changes.

"Defensively we are okay. We will be strong in the league and will beat anyone on our day. But to win again, we will need to work as hard if not harder than last year. That was the beauty of winning the league last year. All the work we put in and others lack of belief in us made it very sweet."

In the other game on Sunday, last season's runners-up Brunei DPMM will play hosts to Razip Ismail's Harimau Muda B side in Bandar Seri Begawan. Former Hull City striker Craig Fagan, Irishman Brian McLean and Brazilian Rafael De Quadros are expected to make their S.League debuts for Steve Kean's team.

Warriors FC Probable Lineup: Neezam Aziz (GK), Syaqir Sulaiman, Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Thomas Beattie, Shi Jiayi, Kevin McCann, Hafiz Rahim, Miroslav Pejic, Nicolas Velez

Balestier Khalsa Probable Lineup: Zaiful Nizam (GK)(C), Nurullah Hussein, Emir Lotinac, Igor Cerina, Yusiskandar Yusop, Ho Wai Loon, Poh Yi Feng, Fadhil Noh, Robert Pericic, Tarik Cmajcann, Miroslav Kristic

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