KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 -- Kelantan United FC (KUFC) head coach, Nazrulerwan Makmor has set a quarter-final target for his team making its debut in Malaysia Cup from Nov 6 to 22.
The former Selangor defender stressed that his current focus in the next three weeks was to strengthen the centre position and attack before the start of the Malaysia Cup campaign.
"Managing this team is a challenging task and a big responsibility because this is a team which has great and fanatic supporters," he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) today.
The 40-year-old coach took over the management of the team from Zahasmi Ismail who was rested by KUFC management in September, following a lacklustre performance in this season's Premier League competition.
Meanwhile, Kuching FA midfielder Joseph Kalang Tie described the success in qualifying for the Malaysia Cup competition as a blessing for himself and the team as the team management only targeted to remain in the Premier League next season.
The 33-year-old explained that the success of qualifying for the Malaysia Cup meant a lot to him as a native of Sarawak despite having played with several well-respected teams before.
He played for Terengganu (2008-2011, 2016), Pahang (2017) and Selangor (2018), before deciding to play for Kuching FA last season in the M3 League competition until it qualified for the Premier League this season.
"From the beginning of the season, Kuching FA struggled with defeat after defeat before we finally bounced back to win the last four Premier League matches. The team's never-say-die attitude makes it something sweet to remember," said Kalang Tie.
KUFC qualified for the Malaysia Cup after finishing fifth in the Premier League with 15 points from 11 matches.
Kuching FA also confirmed their ticket to the country's oldest football tournament after finishing sixth with 13 points from 10 matches. They still have one match left against Kuala Lumpur at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium, Cheras on Oct 9, which had to be postponed to a new date.
The MFL had decided to postpone the match as Kuching FA players had to undergo a 14-day COVID-19 quarantine when they returned to Sarawak from Oct 4 to 18 as set by the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee.
Johor Darul Ta'zim II (JDT II), which are ranked fourth in the Premier League this season, are not eligible to play in the Malaysia Cup competition as they are a feeder team to JDT who play in the Super League.
-- BERNAMA
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