Football: Devan doing well without Safee

K. DEVAN

SELANGOR coach K. Devan was in a daze when Safee Sali left the club for Pelita Jaya as his game plan for the season was centred around the striker.

Safee's departure meant Devan had to re-organise his team's tactics from scratch in search of the right formula but so far the former Negri Sembilan state player has done well in managing his team to success in the M-League.

Since Safee left, Selangor have stayed unbeaten after a bad start to their season, when they earned only a point from three matches.

Selangor, who are hoping to regain the Super League title and also end their Malaysia Cup drought this season, recorded their six straight win on Tuesday by beating Premier League side Johor 3-1 in the quarter-final first leg of the FA Cup at Shah Alam Stadium.

"Safee's departure was so sudden that I did not have time to re-organise the team. I had to re-shuffle both players and tactics to find the right combination. But things are getting better. My players have settled down quite nicely," said Devan.

On his team's victory over Johor, he said Selangor could have won by a bigger margin if they were sharper upfront.

"We missed a lot of chances, especially in the first half. But we came back strongly in the second half to score three times before we sat back to allow Johor to get a goal. I am not happy with the way my team conceded that goal.

"Johor are a hardworking team and it may not be so easy for us in the return leg on Saturday. We cannot afford to take them lightly," he said

Devan fielded mostly regulars, except for injured striker Fadli Shaari against Johor.

He is also happy that his regular defenders, including Nasriq Baharom -- who featured only for the second time this season upon recovery from an injury on Tuesday, will be available for a hectic April.

"Next month could decide our faith in the Super league as we will be playing nine matches. It is important that I have all my regulars for these matches," Devan added.

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