Felda United getting wiser after recovering form

Felda United are wiser now, thanks to the lessons learnt from their Super League campaign this season.

The plantation giants began the Super League with a bang – winning seven of their first eight matches.

However, they failed to sustain the momentum after that and lost seven of the last eight matches.

This saw Felda slipping from third spot to 11th spot in the 14-team standings with seven wins, seven draws and 12 defeats.

Head coach E. Elavarasan admitted that the team would have to be more consistent in the ongoing Malaysia Cup campaign.

Felda, who began their Group C campaign with a 2-0 win over Johor FC in Pasir Gudang on Tuesday, will host Premier League side Sarawak next at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya today.

“The opening win against Johor FC has boosted the team’s confidence and we want to continue collecting points to stay in contention for a place in the quarter-finals,” said Elavarasan yesterday.

Elavarasan said Sarawak would be no pushovers despite their 2-0 opening loss to Kelantan in Kuching on Tuesday.

“Both teams need a win to stay in contention for the quarter-finals.

“Sarawak will be more desperate after Tuesday’s loss.

“My boys need to keep the momentum going to boost our chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals,” said Elavarasan.

Felda fared miserably in the Malaysia Cup last year, finishing last in Group D after managing a draw and five defeats.

This time, Felda are making a stong bid to get past the group stage with the inclusion of two Harimau Muda boys on loan – D. Saarvindran and S. Sivanesan.

Felda have a good mix of players this season, led by three big names from Selangor – strikers Liew Kit Kong and Mohd Farderin Kadir and goalkeeper Mohd Hamsani Ahmad.

They also have another six players from former Super League outfit KL Plus FC, who have withdrawn from the M-League. They are former Golden Boot winner Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof (pic), Azi Shahril Azmi, Mohd Lot Abu Hassan, Azrul Azmi, Faizal Rashid and Ramesh Lai.

The other new signings are Shazwan Zainul, Azrul Ahmad, Mohd Badrul Azam (from Perlis), K. Rajan (Terengganu) and Mohd Zamri Chin (Kedah).

The players retained are Mohd Kaironissam Sahabuddin, Zainal Rabin, Juzaili Samion, Ghani Abdul Rahman, Amir Shahreen Mubin, Khairul Annuar Jamil and Mohd Nizam Abu Bakar.

Coach Elavarasan is known as the man with the midas touch, having helped Public Bank FC (2003), Malacca (2006) and Felda United (2010) win promotion from the lower Premier League to the top flight.