Negri replace Fortune with young Ravindran
Negri Sembilan coach Wan Jamak Wan Hassan has lost patience with Nigerian striker Udo Fortune.
And with his top marksman, Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak, unavailable because of national duty, Wan Jamak will turn to an unlikely source for goals in tonight’s Malaysia Cup Group A home match against Sarawak.
Nineteen-year-old K. Ravindran, who started the season in Negri’s Youth Cup squad, will take over as the main hitman for the must-win clash against Sarawak. He broke the duck in the Malaysia Cup in the 1-2 defeat by Selangor in Paroi last Saturday.
And Wan Jamak has seen enough to place his faith on the inexperienced youngster.
“Fortune’s performance has deteriorated so much that I am choosing the young Ravindran to lead our attack tomorrow (today),” he said.
“Zaquan will be back for our final group match (on Aug 2) but we need to beat Sarawak first to remain in the running for a quarter-final berth. I was impressed with Ravindran’s performance against Selangor but he is still green and needs more exposure to get used to playing at the senior level.”
Negri blew a six-point lead over Terengganu and Selangor and cannot afford any more slip-ups in the two remaining matches. The Deer are now tied with the two teams on 13 points – one point behind leaders Kelantan.
Negri’s final fixture in the group is a home match against Kelantan on Aug 2.
“We are at a disadvantage because we have played one match more than Selangor and Terengganu,” he said.
“On the bright side, the fixture list does not look too bad as Selangor and Terengganu play each other on Friday while Kelantan still have a match against Selangor. I expect the race for quarter-final berths to go down to the wire.”
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