Football
Kenneth Tan 9y

S.League: Aide challenges Young Lions to step up in 2015 season

Courts Young Lions coach Aide Iskandar wants his team to step up to compensate for the loss of last season's top scorer Sahil Suhaimi as their S.League season kicks off on Monday with an away game against last season's surprise package Hougang United.

Speaking to ESPN FC, the former Singapore international said he would like his team to continue from where they left off in 2014. The Young Lions won four of their last seven matches and drew one game to finish 10th.

"We finished last season strongly and our total points were not that far off from the ninth placed team," said Aide. "The boys have benefitted from playing together for the last two years. Hopefully we can get even better this year."

There are a number of exciting additions to the young Lions' playing roster this season. Though they lost striker Suhaimi to LionsXII, the likes of Shakir Hamzah, Shahfiq Ghani, Suria Prakash and Adam Swandi have come in to bolster the squad.

Acknowledging that Sahil's goalscoring and leadership abilities would be a huge miss, Aide wants the rest of his boys to take on more responsibilities to fill the void. "It's going to be tough without him, but I'm expecting these boys to step up more," said the 39-year-old former defender who is also currently involved in the Singapore set up as the U23 coach.

"It's a good challenge for players such as Amy [Recha] and Shahfiq to step up and get the goals. Anumanthan [Mohan Kumar] has been with this team for the last three years, and I'm expecting him to dominate more on the field as well as guide his juniors such as Amirul Adli and Ammirul Emmran."

While Aide and his boys are looking to start the season on a good note, it certainly will not be an easy task considering that they could miss up to six players on Monday.

Sim Teck Yi, Ammirul, Nur Na'iim Ishak and Nur Ridho, who are away with the national U22 team in Cambodia, will not travel be back in time to start. Adam is still nursing a bruised ankle which was sustained during their tour of Turkey last month. Left-back Ali Hudzaifi also looks likely to miss out due to a knee injury.

The Young Lions have enjoyed their recent encounters against the Cheetahs, winning all three meetings in 2014. A 3-0 win at Hougang in May was followed by 2-1 and 2-0 triumphs at their home ground, the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Aide, however, remains wary of the threat which their opponents could pose. "It won't be easy playing against Hougang," he said. "We've played them in pre-season where we drew 1-1. They've brought in good foreigners to strengthen the team thus we have to play our best to beat them."

The match will also pit Hougang's Firman Hanif, Faiz Salleh, Fareez Farhan and Muhaymin Salim against their former employers. Aide, the Singapore coach for the SEA Games in June, said he will not be disappointed if they do fare well. "I'm hoping they play well as they're still eligible for the SEA Games."

Hougang United Probable Lineup: Ridhuan Bahrudin (GK); Faizal Amir, Kenneth Chang, Kunihiro Yamashita, Lau Meng Meng; Fairoz Hasan, Shunsuke Nakatake, Nurhilmi Jasni (C), Fareez Farhan, Francisco Salvador Ela, Takahashi Manato

Courts Young Lions Probable Lineup: Syazwan Buhari (GK); Fadli Kamis, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Amirul Adli, Shakir Hamzah (C); Shameer Aziq, Anumanthan Mohan Kumar, Afiq Mat Noor, Suria Prakash; Shahfiq Ghani, Iqbal Hussain

^ Back to Top ^