Indonesia international Andik Vermansyah passed his medical last and Kedah head coach Ramon Marcote hopes to field the former Selangor player to Sunday’s sway match against Perak SEDC (PKNP) at the Batu Kawan Stadium in Penang.
The Spaniard coach is desperate for a win after Kedah lost their opening two matches – 2-1 against four-time Super League champions Johor Darul Takzim in the season’s opener at the Larkin Stadium on Feb 3 and 3-1 to Perak at the Darulaman Stadium. The match against JDT was also the Charity Shield match.
Nothing has gone right for Kedah, the FA Cup winners last year, with a spate of injuries plus a red card to Kosovo playmaker Liridon Krasniqi who was sacked in the Perak match.
Syazwan Zainon injured his foot in the match against JDT and did not play against Perak. New signing Alvaro Silva has yet to make his M-League debut. The Filipino is carrying a hamstring injury while goalkeeper Abdul Hadi Hamid has undergone surgery for ACL (anterior cruciate ligament.
There was more bad news for Marcote and company when national Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim did not play against Perak because and will miss the PKNP match too. Reserve keeper Asri Mahmud had a poor game against Perak.
However, Marcote is hoping that Andik will be able to play against PKNP in his desperate to get “three valuable and important points” to check the slide.
And the Spaniard also made it clear that he has not changed Kedah’s style of play and all parties must realize that “I have not been able to field my first team due to injuries made worse by the red card to Liridon,” said Marcote during a training session at the Padang Majlis Sukan Negeri Kedah in Alor Setar on Friday.
“The fans and supporters must realize the actual situation I am facing…but hopefully all will be smooth sailing soon. We need to beat PKNP, a team we beat 3-0 in a friendly during the pre-season.”
When asked if he is under pressure for Kedah’s poor start to the season, Marcote had this to say: “There is no such thing as no pressure in a game of football. I am used to such pressure”.
With the arrival of Andik, who donned Selangor colours from 2013 to 2017, Kedah will have their full quota of five foreign players. The others are Brazilian Sandro da Silva, Pablo Pallares (Spain), Alvaro Silva (Philippines) and Liridon (Kosovo). – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
