Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Indra Sahdan Daud marked his return to the Home United side by coming off the bench to score the winner in their 2-1 victory over Churchill Brothers in an AFC Cup Group E tie at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Home coach Lee Lim Saeng lauded the impact made by both Indra and Fazrul Nawaz who netted the opener to continue his rich vein of goalscoring form, and believes this can only do good for the team.

“I am happy to see Indra scoring after his return from a long injury,” a delighted Lee said after the match.

“Fazrul is also already back and has contributed to the team. I am very happy to see them because there can be healthy competition amongst the players, which is important so that we can improve.”

While he was pleased with the result which saw them register their first win of the competition, Lee admitted the fixture congestion could be a cause for concern for his side with games coming thick and fast.

“I am happy and I thank my players’ efforts but we are not done yet and we need to prepare for the next game,” he said.

“We need to improve more, in terms of our finishing, connecting with the ball and the support between the defence and attack. Anyway we are learning from the football after winning this game.

“But, I am worried about the players’ fitness because we play against Balestier Khalsa in the league in two days’ time. We will also play seven games within this month and that’s why we need to take care of our bodies well off the pitch.”

On his side’s qualification chances, Lee reckons it is still early days with two games remaining.

“It’s too early to talk about it, I think we need to see next game and we must get three points [against New Radiant next week],” he remarked.

Lee’s opposite number Mariano Dias on the other hand, attributed the defeat to mistakes at the back but was happy with the effort from his players.

“Actually I think the match would have ended in a draw if our defence did not commit mistakes,” he lamented.

“But I thought Home were much superior than us but we tried to give our best. We were without three of our regular players, but that’s because we are playing in the I-League every three days so that takes a lot of energy out of us.”

Although the odds seem to be stacked against them, Mariano was adamant his team still have what it takes to advance to the knockout rounds of the AFC Cup.

“We still have two matches to be played, one at home against Persipura and one in Maldives [against New Radiant], so we still have a chance,” he said.

“I think we have a better chance, because Persipura is on 10 points and we have six points and you don’t know what will happen in the game. but we have more advantage since we are on six points and we have one match at home.”