PETALING JAYA: Sabah centreback Irfan Zakaria is raring for action and he is confident he will be fielded against Perak in the first-leg of the Malaysia Cup quarter-final at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu today.
Coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee may rest the four players who just returned from national duty.
The 28-year-old Irfan could be partnered with Brazilian Gabriel Peres as regular starter Dominic Tan could be rested as he arrived home from Chengdu and only joined team-training on Wednesday.
For Irfan, the opportunity is great as he has only started 11 matches out of the 17 games he played in all competitions.
The former Kuala Lumpur player also featured in the MFL Cup, starting three times for Sabah II in the competition.
So the chance against Perak must be taken well if he wants to earn regular minutes under Kim Swee.
“Since joining the club late last year, I knew the competition would always be there because there are players like Dom (Dominic) and Gaby (Peres). Not to forget Rawilson (Batuil) as well,” said Irfan.
“If given the chance, we must take it. I want to give my all. It depends on the coach who he wants to start, but I am ready to give my all. Every day in training, I train hard for moments like this. I will give my 100 per cent.
“Perak have shown growth since coach Yusri (Che Lah) took over. We can’t take them easily at all. With the underdog tag, they will go all out. They beat Kedah in the round of 16, so we know what they are capable of.”
Meanwhile, Kim Swee said he will decide on his line-up after assessing the conditions of his four national players – Dominic, striker Darren Lok, left back Daniel Ting and midfielder Stuart Wilkin.
He also told his players that the tie against Perak would not be decided in one-leg, but they needed to be on their toes for two legs.
“I have to see their conditions because they just joined training on Wednesday. I’ve to consider the amount of time they have played, their condition and also making sure they are good to go for the AFC Cup too,” he said.
“I’ve told my boys even if we get a comfortable lead in Likas, we cannot take the foot off the pedal for the second-leg. If we take it casually, for sure, we will be punished. They will surely have a plan and we have to be mindful.”
