Hougang United coach Salim Moin is not underestimating his old club Tampines Rovers when the two sides lock horns in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League at the Hougang Stadium on Friday night.
The Stags started off the season as 'title favourites' but have flattered to deceive so far as they find themselves languishing in fourth place, with 14 points from 10 games -- a massive ten points behind league leaders Warriors FC, albeit with a game in hand.
Coach V Sundramoorthy bolstered their ranks with experienced Brazilian custodian Rodrigo Pacheco and former LionsXII captain Isa Halim last month, but the duo was unable to stop them from an early group stage exit in the League Cup.
Despite that, Salim -- who have coached the Stags for the first four months of 2014 -- acknowledged the threat that the five-time champions may pose.
"Basically it will be a very different tactical game against Tampines," he told ESPN FC. "They have a very intelligent way of doing things; they know how to slow down and when to play a passing game, so we have to approach this game differently."
Having said that, Salim is quietly confident of what his charges can achieve after overseeing a mini-revival in the past month.
Having brought in a total of six new players in the mid-season transfer window, the new-look Cheetahs brushed aside their poor league form to put up a good run in the League Cup where they were a whisker away from reaching the final.
They carried that momentum back into the league where they dispatched the Courts Young Lions 3-1 on Monday night.
While Salim's men remain second-from-bottom after the victory, they are now just four points adrift of the top half.
"Overall it is satisfying to see the players getting the rhythm now," commented the 53-year-old while singling out new arrivals Carlos Delgado and Diego Gama for praise.
"I should say Carlos is very good on free kicks and he makes a lot of difference in putting the ball into the right areas. His understanding with the rest of the players is there, so we have a trump card in terms of set pieces."
"For Diego, he came back well from injury and contributed to what we wanted upfront. He held the ball strongly so I must give credit to him for putting up a good performance. People might say he was a passenger, but there's a different approach from us to use him at the right time."
Meanwhile Salim is keeping his fingers crossed on star striker Vuk Sotirovic's availability for this game. The Serbian hitman scored on his Hougang debut against DPMM, but missed the last two games through a hamstring injury.
"Vuk is in good shape, so hopefully we can get him to play in less than a week's time," he revealed. "Once we get all our key players back, the team will be much more organized."
Hougang United Probable Lineup: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Yuki Uchiyama, Kunihiro Yamashita, Tengku Mushadad, Delwinder Singh, Nurhilmi Jasni (C), Atsushi Shimono, Fazli Jaffar, Diego Gama, Fareez Farhan
Tampines Rovers Probable Lineup: Rodrigo Pacheco (GK), Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic (C), Predrag Pocuca, Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Jamil Ali, Isa Halim, Roberto Alviz, Firdaus Idros, Mateo Roskam, Rodrigo Tosi