Rodney wants to shore up Selangor defence, having helped embarrass them as loanee

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BY        ZULHILMI ZAINAL       Follow on Twitter

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Former Malaysia U-23 centre back Rodney Celvin Akwensivie is one of the new senior defenders signed by Selangor ahead of the 2020 season.

For the past two seasons, the 23-year old turned out for another Shah Alam-based club PKNS FC, and in 2019 he helped them give the Red Giants a black eye.

In round three of the Super League, he helped the minnows trounce Selangor 4-0, playing the full 90 minutes in what was perhaps the lowest point of Selangor’s 2019 season. B. Satiananthan’s charges would eventually recover from the humiliation to end the league campaign in third place, six places above PKNS, before reaching the Malaysia Cup semi-finals, but Selangor could never quite shake off their defence’s porousness throughout the rest of the season.

Speaking to Goal last week, the Sarawak-born player of Ghanian heritage however remarked that the difficulties faced by the Red Giants’ defence last year was not due to the lack of quality.

“We had been told by the coach (PKNS boss at the time K. Rajagobal) of Selangor’s weak points and we were able to take advantage of them.

“But this year, with the defenders brought in, I believe the Selangor defence has been shored up. We have Taylor [Regan], Nicholas [Swirad] and Ashmawi [Yakin], so I believe the competition is stronger.”

He also confirmed a rumour regarding his contract; that he had been a Selangor player since 2019 but stayed on at PKNS as a loanee.

PKNS meanwhile were taken over by Selangor ahead of the 2020 season, with their spot in the Malaysian league handed over to the newly-established Red Giants’ reserve team in the second tier.

“Yes in 2019 I was at PKNS on loan because I asked to stay there, as an act of gratitude towards the management and the coach.

“And the Selangor board also agreed to let me stay at PKNS in 2019,” said Rodney.

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