Aidil wants Kuching City to rise stronger on its own site

KOTA BHARU, 21 Sept: Kuching City FC's head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak wants his men to immediately forget the result of a netless series against Kelantan City FC in an FA Cup match at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, last night, before returning stronger to face back-to-back matches at Sarawak Stadium, Kuching on 10 October.

According to Aidil, the Cats squad actually dominated much of the game, but were too eager to hunt down the net so they failed to take advantage of opportunities, including when opponents acted with 10 players.

"I think today we tried too hard and the players were too busy to score so it was a little tense. When the opponent plays with 10 players, we also fail to take advantage. This is something we need to learn", he told a press conference after the match last night.

Aidil said the decision remained to be accepted despite Kuching City dominating the ball and continuing to put pressure until the end of the match, including a try on the pole.

For him, the focus now is on making sure players have enough room to come back fresh after a long series of matches at the opponent's venue.

Obviously Aidil, a long journey with eight consecutive actions at the opponent's site, in addition to routinely going out into hotels and airports, poses its own challenges for the players.

So, FIFA's international break will be used to restore the squad's condition before they return to action.

"I'm going to make sure they can reset during this FIFA break and we will come back stronger. It's not easy for a player after eight or nine consecutive games on the field", he said.

Meanwhile, Aidil believes the advantage of playing on his own site in a friendly match could give Kuching City an extra shot, but reminded supporters to continue to be patient with the development of the team now facing new schedules and challenges.

In addition, Kuching City is still in a competitive position and the opportunity to compete for trophies remains open.

At the same time, he hoped that The Cats supporters would be able to fill Sarawak Stadium as their presence could make them the '12th player' for the team.

"Football is meaningless without supporters. Look at Kelantan today, they're getting more energy because their supporters are always behind them. Such support is essential to every football club", he explained.

The two teams will now have to decide their fate in the Oct. 10 draw after a 0-0 tie at Kota Bharu.