Plenty of fireworks can be expected in the mouth-watering east coast derby between Kelantan and Terengganu at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru tonight.
Both teams play an exciting brand of attacking football and it is payback time for the Red Warriors, having lost to the Turtles in the FA Cup final and the semi-finals of the Malaysia Cup last season.
But Terenggganu are aware of the huge threat posed by their neighbours and coach Mat Zan Mat Aris plans to put the brakes on Kelantan frontrunners Mohd Ghaddar Mahmoud and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.
“The order is out to shackle these two players,” Terengganu coach Mat Zan said yesterday.
“Kelantan have a complete team and we have to be on our guard at all times. There is no room to lose focus as we will be playing in front of their hostile fans. They also have match winners in the midfield department,” said Mat Zan of Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Mohd Norfarhan Mohd, Nurul Azwan Roya and skipper Mohd Badhri Radzi.
Terengganu aim to put behind Wednesday’s setback where they were held 1-1 by PKNS FC at home.
Last year, Terengganu finished runners-up to Kelantan in the Super League. The battle for the title is likely, once again, to be between the two east coast sides. Surprise package Perak are the new leaders in the 14-team standings on 15 points followed by Kelantan (14) and Terengganu (13).
Terengganu captain Marzuki Yusof said: “The record between the two sides is quite even but Kelantan have the edge as they are playing at home.
“We wanted three points against PKNS but failed. We will have to redeem ourselves and beat Kelantan.”
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