Johor DT will be looking to get their AFC Cup campaign off to a positive start when they take on East Bengal at the Larkin Stadium later tonight.
The Southern Tigers were initially in contention for AFC Champions League spot, though they were defeated by Bangkok Glass FC in the third stage of the ACL qualifiers, but Bojan Hodak himself is now keen on ensuring that they surpass all previous yardsticks set by Malaysian teams in this competition.
But they haven’t exactly been on fiery form in recent weeks. After that defeat against Bangkok Glass earlier this month, Johor DT went on to suffer a defeat at the hands of PDRM in the Malaysia Super League, before scraping through their match against Selangor with a draw last week.
As for East Bengal themselves, this will be nothing short of a delicate affair, considering that it’ll also be Eelco Schattorie first game in charge of the team, after taking over from Armando Colaco recently.
But Bojan Hodak will take heart from the fact that they will be starting their campaign on home soil, and a victory here will give them some much needed impetus to get things back on track ahead of the Malaysian FA Cup action this weekend. But that being said, he is not prepared to underestimate the Indians.
“We’re looking at three points but things might change since East Bengal coach has just arrived and this is probably a positive thing for their players. I feel they will also make some changes in the system and strategy,” he said during the pre-match post conference.
“Because of that, we don’t have any idea about how they will perform tomorrow.”
Johor DT, will be ringing in the changes with fatigue and injuries starting to mildly affect the squad, and Bojan even hinted that he could potentially use the services for national striker Safee Sali, who hasn’t exactly featured in their matches this year.
“I might be looking into it because he was looking sharp in training. But I can only finalise it after completing our training today,” he said.
Meanwhile, East Bengal’s Schattorie remains optimistic ahead of the tie, though he intends to shore up his defence before they take on the reigning Super League champions.
“We are ready to compete tomorrow,” said Schattorie. “We’ve to work on our defence, but I’m ready for the tough challenge. The target is to do well in the AFC Cup.”
On paper, it certainly has the potential of be a cracker of an affair, but that largely depends on how the match transpires later tonight. One thing for sure, the atmosphere will be nothing short of stupendous.
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