UPHILL TASK FOR WORDEN IN KOTA BAHRU

The East Coast ‘derby’ between these two sides are usually a heated affair.

Big spending Kelantan will start as favourites despite their poor record against Terengganu at the Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium. Their last encounter was a Malaysia Cup group match last season with the Turtles registering a 1-0 win, denting Kelantan’s hope of progressing further in the competition.

A similar result is most welcomed by Worden though he is not overly optimistic of it happening due to the injury problems that has ravaged his squad and also the fact that his players are still adapting to his approach.

The loss of Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan in midfield for three weeks due to a hamstring injury forced Worden to shuffle his engine room. Without the experienced campaigner the task of finding holes in the Kelantan defence will fall on the shoulder of Zairo Anuar Zailani, who himself was a bit of a doubt for the match after picking up a slight injury against the robust PDRM side on Tuesday.

Worden’s cause is not helped by the road accident involving his midfielder Ismail Faruqi, whose car entered the opposite lane when he tried to evade a motorcyclist who suddenly swerved into his lane on the Sultan Mahmud Bridge.

In an ironic twist, former Terengganu striker Mohamad Norfarhan will face his former team for the first time in Kelantan colours while the Turtles will have Kelantan born forward Azlan Ismail leading the line with Abdul Manaf Mamat.

Worden who was quoted by the national media as saying his team played like ‘a bunch of schoolboys’ is hoping they will prove him wrong by performing like men at the intimidating arena that is Sultan Mohamad IV Stadium and come home with at least a point.

A win will definitely see the Pomme over the moon.