Young Lions defender Adam Hakeem will be key to stopping Tampines.

SINGAPORE, 30 JULY 2018 – Tampines Rovers will look to continue pushing for a runners-up finish in the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SPL) as they take on Young Lions at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday, 1 August. Kick off is at 7.45pm.

BACKGROUND With the SPL title sealed by Albirex Niigata FC (S), the attention now turns onto the race for second spot between Tampines, Home United FC and Brunei DPMM FC.

The Stags currently hold the advantage with 33 points from 18 games, while the Protectors trail by a point in third and have played a game more. DPMM sit in fourth with 26 points, but have two games in hand.

Juergen Raab’s men can ill afford to slip up with six games left, but will be confident going into Wednesday’s clash against opponents whom they have had no trouble defeating in the past three years.

The Young Lions have not managed to take any points off Tampines in nine straight matches stretching back to 27 September 2015.

They have conceded three or more goals seven times in that span, which includes a 4-0 and 3-1 defeat earlier this year, but forward Zulfadhmi Suzliman warned his side to stamp out any complacency that could be lurking.

“Young Lions is not an easy team even though they are young… the ball is round and anything can happen in 90 minutes of the match,” said the 22-year-old.

“We are focused on the upcoming matches as we are eyeing second place … we are always mentally and physically prepared for every game because every game is important to us now.”

Meanwhile, Young Lions defender Adam Hakeem knows that his side have a mammoth task against seasoned opposition.

“I believe the key difference (between us and them) was experience,” he said. “They had lots of players with tons of experience and were able to break our defence down. We have to stick to our game-plan and take our chances against them on Wednesday.

“We will also need to be at our best in defence too, as they could punish us with the players that they have.”

TEAM NEWS
Tampines will be missing veteran centre-back Daniel Bennett due to suspension, while Shannon Stephen and Safirul Sulaiman remain sidelined with injury.

Young Lions will be missing at least three defenders – R Aaravin is out with suspension, while Amer Hakeem and captain Taufiq Muqminin are out with injuries. The good news is that they welcome back Adam, who played in a friendly against Macau last week, as well as Syahrul Sazali.

Upfront, Ifwat Ismail remains a doubt.

FORM GUIDE
Young Lions: LLWLL
Tampines: WWDLD

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
03/06/18: Tampines 3-1 Young Lions – Singapore Premier League
30/05/18: Tampines 4-0 Young Lions – Singapore Premier League
28/10/17: Tampines 3-0 Young Lions – Singapore Premier League
12/09/17: Young Lions 0-4 Tampines – Singapore Premier League
23/04/17: Tampines 3-0 Young Lions – Singapore Premier League

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR
Ikhsan Fandi – Young Lions
The Young Lions top scorer is without a doubt his team’s main goal threat, and will be needed to lead the way upfront.

Khairul Amri – Tampines
Against a Young Lions team missing a number of first-team defenders, the striker will have no better opportunity to add to his tally for the season, which stands at 16 – six of which came in his last four matches.

WHAT ELSE THEY SAID
Young Lions defender Adam: “Amri is a top player and we will do our best to stop him. However, football is a team sport and Tampines have many attackers who are dangerous in front of goal too. We will work on our game plan in training and be ready for them on Wednesday.

“The aim for Young Lions now is to finish at least fifth place. The gap between the fifth and eighth is very close and we believe we will be able to end the season with a mid-table finish.”

Tampines forward Zulfadhmi: “We are aiming for the second place and hopefully the Singapore Cup too. But for now, what’s more important is the upcoming league games.”

Get your tickets for ALL Singapore Premier League games at fas.org.sg/tickets/ and watch Young Lions clash with Tampines at fas.org.sg/live2!