Written By: Kenneth Ho

Balestier Khalsa coach Marko Kraljevic believed the Tigers will be able to compete in the AFC Cup even though he admitted he did not know much about their opponents.

The Tigers have been drawn with East Bengal, either star-studded Johor Darul Ta’zim or Selangor, and either Kitchee FC or Sun Pegasus  in Group F.

It will be Balestier’s first time playing in the Cup after they won an historic RHB Singapore Cup last season, hence there was no surprise that Kraljevic lacked information on their opponents.

However, he insisted that this should not be an excuse for him to not expect results from his team going into the tournament.

“We are going to compete, I put my best team in every game to win,” Kraljevic said. “It’s not playing Japan or Korea teams, we can compete in this region.”

The Croatian asserted that he and his backroom staff will also do their homework in advance in order to prepare his side adequately.

Opening their campaign against either Kitchee FC or Sun Pegasus on 24 February 2015, Kraljevic has already made plans to watch videos of these two sides.

However, he warned that whichever team plays Balestier, he will not be underestimating them. This especially after he watched Kitchee FC play once this year in an AFC Cup game against Tampines Rovers.

“I watched Kitchee played Tampines, they are a great team, they played very well against Tampines, but we will watch more videos of them to find out more,” Kraljevic added.