Felda will now only have five more matches to save themselves from being relegated to the Premier League next year after suffering their ninth league defeat at the hands of Perak on Tuesday. The result left The Fighters firmly rooted at the bottom of the table, but crucially are only three points away from safety.
Thus it is still in Felda’s hands what happens to their league status and with vital six-pointers against fellow relegation battlers in Kuala Lumpur and PKNP FC to come, Nidzam Jamil will not be losing too much sleep over next season just yet.
However in the match against Perak, Nidzam wasn’t impressed with the way his team only started to play when the cause is lost. While Felda managed to reduce the gap late on, it was all a little too late for the home to find something out from the match.
“In the first half we weren’t focus at all and conceded twice. The third goal came early in the second half but we changed a few things, playing higher up the pitch. Unfortunately we scored too late, even though I’m not sure about why there were only four minutes of added time. I’m not sure what happened to the referee’s watch.
“But I believe that we can only blame ourselves because we allowed them to dominate the first half. We only started playing more freely after the third goal and when you play against a giant like Perak, when you give them three goals, the game is over,” said Nidzam after the match.
The immediate focus for Nidzam and his team though will be on the FA Cup this weekend. A home second leg after only losing 1-0 to Kedah at Darul Aman Stadium puts Felda in good stead for a chance to reach the final. That said, the inability to find an away goal could put a spanner in the works for Felda as well.
On the positive side of things for Nidzam, the match at least saw the return of Hadin and Masaki Watanabe. Hadin was only fit enough for the bench in the semi-final first leg but Watanabe was suspended for that match in Alor Setar.
Follow Goal Malaysia on Instagram
Be the first to comment