Geylang International vs Brunei DPMM

(Thursday, 20 April, 7.30pm, Bedok Stadium)

Written by: Shawn Lim

A resurgent Geylang International will look to make it two wins out of two in the 2017 Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League when they welcome Brunei DPMM to Bedok Stadium on Thursday night.

The Eagles ended a string of bad results by beating Garena Young Lions 2-0 in their last game and are keen to ensure that they go on a good run of results.

There is also an added incentive for Geylang to grab all three points as this will be the last time they will play at Bedok in a while. Reason being, they will play their home games at Jalan Besar Stadium while work is done at the running tracks of the former.

After their victory over the Young Lions, Geylang forward Victor Coto believes the result has helped boost confidence but has warned against complacency.

“Winning always brings positive energy into the squad,” said the Costa Rican.

“We all have more confidence towards the next game against DPMM, obviously we can’t think for even a second that it’s going to be an easy game because there’s no such thing in football.

“The last game against Young Lions was a tough game. Despite the victory, we still have a lot of work to do if we want to achieve a higher position in the league.”

Coto also feels that Geylang still have a lot more room for improvement and stressed that the only way forward is to work hard on the training ground.

“In football, as in life, there is always something to improve. It would be naive to think that we don’t have anything to improve,” Coto explained.

“We train hard everyday to work more and more as a team, keep possession of the ball and make fewer mistakes.

“We have very professional coaches and players so it’s only up to us to decide at which level we want to be.”

The Wasps will come into the match against the Eagles with only one win in their past five games and are starting to look like a club in full crisis mode.

However, Coto is still careful of the threat that the Wasps can pose and is refusing to take the Bruneians lightly.

“Facing a team that is coming from a defeat it’s never easy,” said the 26-year-old.

“Actually in my opinion it’s the opposite, they want revenge so they will try to get it against us.

“But still, we work thinking about us and our game, despite the other team’s results. We must focus in working hard and creating more chances to score.”

In the DPMM camp, head coach Steve Kean is adamant that his team has to improve on the defensive aspect of their game and their teamwork.

“We know as a team we have to do better – both individually and collectively; we have to defend better. It shouldn’t get to a stage where we need six goals to win at home,” said the Scot, following their 5-3 defeat to Warriors FC in their last game.

“That can’t happen. We always look like we will score but also look like conceding. That is the first of all that we need to put right. We will move forward again and the good thing is we got another game in five days.

Geylang International – LWDLW

15/04/17  Garena Young Lions 0-2 Geylang International

08/04/17  Geylang International 0-4 Tampines Rovers

10/03/17  Warriors FC 1-1 Geylang International

04/03/17  Geylang International 2-0 Balestier Khalsa

27/02/17  Hougang United 2-0 Geylang International

Brunei DPMM – LLWLL

15/04/17  Brunei DPMM 3-5 Warriors FC

07/04/17  Balestier Khalsa 2-1 Brunei DPMM

02/04/17  Brunei DPMM 2-0 Hougang United

09/03/17  Albirex Niigata (S) 2-0 Brunei DPMM

03/03/17  Brunei DPMM 1-3 Home United

Head to Head (S.League)

11/08/16  Geylang International 1-1 Brunei DPMM

30/04/16  Brunei DPMM 1-2 Geylang International

20/02/16  Geylang International 1-1 Brunei DPMM

03/11/15  Geylang International 2-1 Brunei DPMM

05/08/15  Brunei DPMM 3-1 Geylang International