Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
DPMM FC are looking to bounce back when they host Geylang International FC in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
The Brunei side are coming off a 2-0 defeat at the hands of two-time defending champions Albirex Niigata FC (S) on Saturday - with both goals coming in the opening five minutes at the Jurong East Stadium.
It was a shaky start to the encounter after a half hour delay to kick-off and DPMM FC coach Rene Weber (pic) hopes that they will be able to do much better against the Eagles at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
“It was bad on how we started the game. If you observe that goal in the beginning, we could have done better. We already talked about what happened,” said Weber earlier today.
“The game was postponed for 30 minutes and I think we started to lose some concentration.
“It was a different field (artificial pitch) and we only started to play 15 minutes into the game. It was a difficult game against the two-time defending champions but regardless it was a good lesson for us,” added the Brazilian.
“But we will forget about that last game. As for Geylang tomorrow, they also haven’t won after three games.
“It won't be easy but we must concentrate from the beginning. Hopefully we can do that and win the game,” continued Weber.
DPMM FC are handed a boost with the return of Northern Irish defender Brian McLean to the lineup for the match.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are a revamped side having only retained four of their players from the previous season where they finished fourth in the 9-team standings.
There has also been a change with a new man in charge at the helm with Hirotaka Usui, who joined the Eagles last year, taking over.
This is after the departure of Noor Ali at the end of the last season as he left for Japan at the end of January to join J2 League side Matsumoto Yamaga for 10 months.
The 42-year-old former Singapore international is an assistant coach in Yamaga’s Under-18 side and will also be part of the coaching staff of the first team.
With a squad made up with a majority of young players, the Eagles started out their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Warriors FC.
They then went down fighting 3-1 against Tampines Rovers FC in the first SPL Eastern Derby at the Tampines Hub on April 7.
They fell to their third straight defeat with a 1-0 setback against Balestier Khalsa FC on Saturday.
DPMM FC will have to watch out for the likes of Ryan Syaffiq, who started the campaign strongly with a goal and assist from the opening two matches, and 2015 Player of the Year Fumiya Kogure, who netted a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory the last time when the Eagles came to town.
